Creamy Pesto Pasta, without the cream

So last night I had one of those nights where all I wanted was creamy comfort food pasta. I'd had a long day and wanted something really quick and easy to make but still tasty and healthy. So after a bit of thought and a quick assessment of the cupboards I came up with this creamy pesto pasta, made without cream. Now obviously if you have cream on hand and would prefer it you can easily sub it in. Also as one commenter has stated they prefer zero fat yoghurt, this can be sub'd in as well. But as the recipe stands it is very tasty vegan creamy pesto pasta. This makes about 3 - 4 nice sized servings so alter the recipe depending on your family size and appetite. 

Creamy Pesto Pasta

Ingredients: 

4 big handfuls of dried pasta

1 can Coconut milk

1 tbs Corn flour

Pesto:

1 Carrot
2 handfuls spinach
1 Onion

1 red apple
2 handfuls of mixed nuts
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbs Oil (I used olive)
1 tbs Chilli (ground or flakes)
2 tbs dried basil

Method:

Cook the pasta as per the instructions. Once cooked drain and set aside.

Place all the pesto ingredients into a blender / small food processor and blend until well mixed. (Don't blend until smooth or you loose the great texture of the nuts.)

Place a small amount of olive oil in a pan, once hot add the pasta, pesto, coconut milk and cornflour. Stir until well heated and the sauce has thickened.

Serve and enjoy. 

Variations:

- The pesto can be made with a variety of different greens depending on what you have on hand. This includes fresh herbs like coriander, basil, parsley etc. Even a mixture with some mint would give it a sharp fresh flavour. 

- Meat can be easily added to this recipe, Chuck put some of the left over sausages (see the Curry recipe) in his and said it was very good.  

- Also for the gluten intolerant, this can be easily made with gluten free pasta. 

Happy Eating!

Addit:

I had some of the left overs for lunch yesterday, I mixed in some chickpeas with extra chilli and basil. Made a wonderful lunch, filling and tasty.

Today I'm having the very last of it with a carrot, tomato, onion and some chickpeas. kind of like a pasta salad, very excited. 

Happy eating!