To me this dish is like having Spring on a plate - so many different greens! It’s packed with antioxidants, iron and vitamin C, the sunflower seeds add protein and the cashew parmesan makes it extra flavoursome.
What you need:
For the pasta:
400g pasta of choice
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves - minced
2-3 handfuls of sunflower seeds – dry roasted
300g baby spinach – washed
1 broccoli – cut into florets
180g frozen peas
1 avocado – cut into small pieces
For the cashew parmesan:
100g cashes nuts
Half a teaspoon of garlic granules
1tbsp nutritional yeast
Salt to taste
How you do it:
Boil a large pan of lightly salted water.
Meanwhile make your cashew parmesan.
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until the nuts are finely ground, taste and add a little more salt if necessary.
Boil your broccoli until tender, drain (keeping the stock!) and put aside for later.
In the broccoli stock cook your pasta until al dente.*
Meanwhile dry roast the sunflower seeds in a frying pan, stir frequently to avoid them from burning (this will only take a few minutes).
Put them aside for later.
In the same frying pan heat up 2tbsp of olive oil before adding your peas and the minced garlic.
Fry on medium heat until the peas are fully defrosted.
Add the pasta and the spinach to the peas, stir until the spinach starts to wilt.
Add broccoli, avocado and sunflower seeds, stirring gently until everything is piping hot.
Season to taste and drizzle with extra olive oil.
Serve with a generous sprinkle of cashew parmesan.
* Some of the broccolis' nutrients are 'lost' to the water during the process of boiling it, so reusing the water for the pasta is a great way to salvage some of them and adds lovely flavour to your dish on top of it.
