Nettle Pesto Pasta

This hearty and herbaceous pasta is a surefire crowd pleaser! It is packed with iron, vitamin K, and manganese helping to nourish blood and restore connective tissues. ☨

Serves: 5

Ingredients

Pesto

• Small bunch of basil, about 1/4 cup, lightly packed

• 4 cups fresh nettle leaves, densely packed, stripped from stems, washed and patted dry

• ½ cup nutritional yeast

• ½ cup pine nuts

• 4-5 cloves garlic

• ¼ c lemon juice

• ¾ - 1 cup olive oil (or sub sundried tomato oil)

• ½ tsp salt

Vegan Ricotta

• ¼ pack (3 oz) silken tofu

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• Squeeze of lemon

• ¼ tsp salt

Pasta Assembly + Toppings

• Salt

• Sun Dried Tomatoes

• Fresh Egg Pappardelle Pasta, I love the one from The Pasta Shop

Other Materials

• High-Speed Blender

• Heat-resistant rubber spatula

• Tongs

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Instructions

Pesto

1. Strip nettle leaves from stems. Be careful! Fresh nettle has small spikes that sting when you touch them. The sting is removed through both through drying and through blanching the leaves, in this case, we’ll blanch the leaves to remove the sting.

2. Bring a large pot of water (enough to blanch nettles and cook pasta) to a boil. Add nettles and let them blanch in the boiling water for 1 minute. You can salt the water before blanching if desired.

3. Remove blanched nettles from boiling water and add to a high speed blender

4. Add basil, nutritional yeast, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil to blender

5. Blend on low for a more “pesto-look”. Add additional oil, by the tablespoon, if needed

Vegan Ricotta

1. Add silken tofu, lemon juice, salt, and nutritional yeast to a small bowl. Fold to combine, allowing small chunks to form. Do not overmix

Pasta Assembly

1. Bring water used to blanch nettle back to a rolling boil.

2. Salt the water generously with sea salt, if not done already

3. Add pasta and cook according to the instructions

4. While pasta is cooking, slice a few sundried tomatoes

5. Once pasta is fully cooked, drain water fully and add pesto sauce stirring gently with a rubber spatula to combine.

6. Using tongs, gently move pasta into smaller bowls to serve, garnishing with a spoonful of ricotta and a few sliced sundried tomatoes.

Notes

1. Adding the pesto to the pasta pot and incorporating it while the pasta pot is still hot will reduce the “bite” of the garlic. Some folks may like their pesto more acidic. Others may like theirs mild. Choose your own adventure!

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Video Tutorial

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Medicinal Benefits

Basil and fresh nettles are rich in nutritive content like iron which is used by the body to restore the blood, oxygenating it, helping it to convert blood sugar to energy, boosting the immune system, improving cognitive functioning, and supporting healthy hair, skin, and nails. They are also both high in vitamin K which is essential for helping blood to clot and helping wounds to heal. Basil in particular is high in manganese which helps the body form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones ☨

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• Disclosure

  ☨ This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This recipe is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All information shared is strictly for educational purposes.

• References

  1. https://www.spatone.com/en-au/about/the-role-of-iron/

  2. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-k/#:~:text=Vitamin%20K%20is%20a%20group,may%20help%20keep%20bones%20healthy

  3. https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/manganese#:~:text=Manganese%20helps%20the%20body%20form,normal%20brain%20and%20nerve%20function.