This creamy green pesto pasta is an easy way to pack plenty of vegetables and fresh herbs into a delicious pasta dish. The pesto is made with spinach, broad beans, broccoli stems, parsley, marjoram and basil, blended with parmesan, garlic, lime and extra virgin olive oil.

Using broccoli stems is a great way to reduce food waste, as they are often discarded even though they are perfectly edible and full of flavour. Blended into the pesto, they add to its fresh green colour and creamy texture, making this an easy and delicious way to use more of the vegetable.

I use parmesan in this pesto for its savoury flavour, but you can easily make it vegan by replacing it with a vegetarian hard cheese or nutritional yeast. If using cheese, check the label to make sure it is suitable for your dietary requirements.

SERVES 4

• 100g spinach
• 100g broad beans, I used frozen
• 100g broccoli stems
• 50g fresh mixed herbs, I used parsley, marjoram and basil
• 50g parmesan
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• juice of half a lime
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 400g pasta of your choice
• sea salt
• cracked black pepper
• 1/4 tsp optional chilli powder

• Cook the pasta of your choice and set aside, reserving approximately 100ml of the pasta water.
• Steam the spinach and broccoli over the broad beans, which you can boil in water.
• Place these into a blender with the herbs, parmesan, garlic, lime juice, chilli powder if using and a teaspoon of salt and pepper.
• Blend into a smooth pesto paste.
• Mix with the pasta and approx 100ml of the reserved pasta water.
• Serve with extra basil leaves, grated parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

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