This recipe is the perfect quick and healthy midweek dinner. The red pepper is an absolute winer and requires only an handful of wholesome ingredients. To make this dish even more packed with goodness I have used chickpea pasta which is higher in fibre and protein but it will work with any type of pasta of your choice. For this recipe I have used my new Kitchen Aid Artisan blender which is a dream to create healthy and delicious meals. It’s obviously not just great for smoothies but thanks to its super stronger engine is great to make hummus, nut butters, pesto, veggie burgers and so much more! You can use my discount code” HAPPYSKINKITCHEN” to get 20% off on any Kitchen aid blenders!

Ingredients: 

2 red peppers 

1/4 cup of walnuts 

1 garlic cloves 

An handful of basil leaves

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast 

The juice of 1/2 lemon 

2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil 

Salt to taste 

Serve with roughly 250gr of chickpea pasta ( I went for penne)

Remove the seeds and stalks from the pepper and chop it into pieces. Add them to a roasting tray with 1tbps of oil, a pinch of salt and roast them in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes until soft.

Add the roasted pepper to the Kitchen Aid Blender together with the nutritional yeast, basil, garlic, walnuts, lemon juice, the remaning olive oil, a pinch of salt and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste the pesto and add more salt if needed.

Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta but reserve about 2-3 tablespoons of the cooking water. Put the pasta back into the pan and stir in the pesto and the add the cooking water. Mix everything until it’s well combined. Optional: if you want to add extra greens to this dish, add in an handful of baby spinach and keep stirring until they have wilted.

Serve straight away and enjoy!