This is my absolute favourite time of the year. New start, fresh new beginnings, and of course, lots of awesome food growing in our gardens.
Lately, the costs of our grocery shopping has dramatically lowered, as we just got so much food for FREE! It’s harvest time, baby. An abundance of organic, untreated, unprocessed, straight from nature!
At the moment, we’re having leeks, onions, pumpkins and lots of herbs. The best part of gardening is also getting in touch with other people who do it, and exchanging vegetables. With this simple tool, we can diversify what we bring home with us and get inspired to create some really yummy, delicious recipes. Last week, we visited friends, Keven & Krys, who are two photographers living in an amazing location in Luxembourg (check out it out on our instagram) and who have a greenhouse full of cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs. We offered them one of our lovely pumpkins and we brought home a bunch of cucumbers with us which we intend to experiment and pickle, as well as a huge bunch of fragrant basil from their garden.
As soon as we got home, I put the bouquet of basil in a glass jar filled with water. Not only did it look beautiful, but it made our whole place smell so nice, I was full of cooking ideas.
To make the best out of this leek and basil harvest, I came up with a simple recipe which was perfect for our weekday lunches. It also includes black eyed peas for some extra energy. It is not too heavy, (so you don’t end up on the couch after lunch), fills you with goodness and boosts your focus for the rest of the day. It can be eaten hot or cold, anytime, anywhere.
FARFALLE WITH LEEK & HOMEMADE VEGAN PESTO
Ingredients for the pasta (for 4-6 servings):
- 500g of farfalle
- 200g of cooked black eyed peas, rinsed & drained
- Two leeks, cleaned & chopped in rings
- Olive oil
- Salt
Ingredients for the homemade pesto:
- A big bunch of basil
- 140g of pine nuts, walnuts or cashews (I always have cashews at home)
- 8 tablespoons of olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 30 grams of nutritional yeast – It’s really tasty and replaces cheese. David and I are generally avoiding dairy as it’s not healthy. Not sure what nutritional yeast is? Check out this link, we talked about it on Orla Collective!
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Water
Directions:
- First, make your pesto! Simply toss all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and let it run until the mixture turns out well blended. If you want your pesto to turn out a little more creamy (less crumbly), try adding a little bit of water. Add a tablespoon of water at a time, blend and let it get to a perfect texture. Feel free to taste and season it as you prefer. When ready, you can spoon it in a jar. It will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days.
- Cook your farfalle in a pot of salty water according to package directions. When your pasta is cooked, drain over a colander and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, coat a big pan with some olive oil and put it over medium-high heat. Throw in your leeks, and cook until they get nicely wilted, for about 10 minutes. You can also season them with some salt.
- Add the cooked pasta as well as the black eyed peas in the pan of leeks while they keep cooking. Give it a good stir and add a 5-6 spoonfuls of your homemade pesto. Mix well, and if you need some help to distribute the sauce evenly, just add a little bit of water, stir and let it come together for another 2-3 minutes. Taste, adjust with salt if needed.
- As soon as the content of your pan looks and tastes delicious, remove it from heat, and serve right away if you wish.
- Suggested toppings: chilli flakes, scallions, sundried tomatoes, or some extra nutritional yeast. Yum!
