Vegan miso butter greens pasta

February 26, 2023

   

I'm always on the lookout for lazy pasta-based school night dinner options, so when Cindy suggested this Meera Sodha pasta for dinner I was immediately keen. It's a tiny bit more involved than the Ottolenghi one pot classic that I love, but it's still super simple - cook up some greens and blend them and you've got yourself a pasta sauce. It's a fun recipe too - unconventionally flavoured with miso and chilli oil, comforting and delicious. Definitely one to add to our weeknight rotation.

Vegan miso butter greens pasta

(via this recipe from Meera Sodha's Guardian column)

60g Nuttelex or other vegan butter

5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 head of broccoli, chopped

1 bunch of Tuscan kale/cavolo nero, stems removed and leaves chopped

2 teaspoons salt

2-3 tablespoons white miso

40ml olive oil

500g orecchiette

chilli oil

Melt the Nuttelex in a pan over medium heat and stir through the garlic, fennel and chilli, cooking for 3 minutes or so until the garlic is cooked.

Add the broccoli, kale, salt and a cup of water. Stir and cover, cooking over low heat for 10 minutes or so until the leaves have wilted and everything has softened up a bit. 

Let the pan cool a bit and then scrape everything into a food processor with the miso and olive oil and blend until smooth. You can add water here if you need to, but ours blended up nicely. 

Cook the pasta as per instructions, drain and then return to the pot along with the blended green sauce and a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Heat the sauce through and then serve, topped with a generous drizzle of chilli oil.