Print
PESTO BUTTER BEANS
Pesto and beans make the dream combo! Eat this with lots of crusty bread for the best weeknight dinner ever.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 200 g baby leaf spinach
- 30 g fresh basil stalks & all
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 50 g toasted pinenuts
- 50 g vegan parmesan grated
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 x 400g cans butter beans
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- to serve: lemon zest, extra fresh basil & toasted pinenuts
Instructions
-
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the spinach and basil and blanch for 10 seconds. Drain and immediately dunk into ice-cold water. This will help them to stay bright green.
-
Heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat. Once hot, fry the garlic for a minute or so, just to soften. Remove it from the pan and combine with the blanched spinach and basil, toasted pinenuts, vegan parmesan, lemon juice and half of the liquid from one of the cans of butter beans in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy, then season to taste.
-
Drain the remaining butter beans and warm them through over a medium heat (you can use the same pan you used to fry the garlic here). Pour in the pesto and stir well to combine. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes, or until everything is nice and warm.
-
Serve the butter beans between bowls and finish with a good drizzle of olive oil, a grating of lemon zest, a few extra toasted pine nuts and a good crack of black pepper.