^[1][Contributed by Anne Davies] I often cook for friends with a range of varied dietary needs and tastes. With vegan, vegetarian and non-vegan friends all at my table and wanting food, I can always rely on this dish! My pasta pesto recipe is a happy medium— it fills the vegan and vegetarian requirements and keeps my ominvore friends feeling full and satisfied, it tastes delicious and doesn’t contain ingredients that can put non-vegans off taking that first bite.

Serves: 4

Pesto:

• 2 to 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pasta dish:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• Mushrooms, as desired, sliced
• Black olives, as desired, halved
• 12 to 16 ounces tagliatelle or spaghetti
• Fresh basil (for garnish)

Place all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor. Blend for roughly 10 seconds, until the mixture is combined; then, puree as smooth or coarse as you like.

Put a pot of water on to boil, in preparation for the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet. Sauté the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic. Stir in quickly before adding the mushrooms. Sauté over gentle heat, stirring occasionally.

As soon as the mushrooms are cooked the dish will almost be ready to serve, so time the cooking of your pasta accordingly. Cook this mixture over very low heat until the pasta is almost ready. Just before you drain the pasta, turn the heat down to its lowest setting and add the pesto.

Drain the pasta. Combine it with the pesto mixture in a large serving bowl and and stir together until well mixed. Serve at once, garnishing each serving with basil leaves. A simple yet effective meal, bon appétit!

Anne Davies is the Social Media Consultant for Kranich’s purveyors of mothers rings ^[2] and more. Anne also guest blogs on a range of topics from travel to bridal sets ^[3]. 

Click here for lots more lighter seasonal vegan pasta recipes. ^[4]