Farfalle with Swiss Chard Pesto is a quick and easy weeknight meal that can be prepared ahead of time. A vegan recipe that can be made gluten free
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Another quick weeknight meal or lunch. Both the pasta and the pesto can be prepared ahead of time and kept. Warm, assemble, refresh with some pepper, cashew or dried basil and serve. Swiss chard gives the pesto a bright green color and it stays that way even when refrigerated. Use glutenfree pasta for a gf meal.
Swiss Chard is one of the most nutritious vegetables around and ranks second only to Spinach in total nutrient-richness of the World’s Healthiest vegetables. Cooking it lightly also helps reduce the oxalic acid and hence letting the body absorb more calcium and other nutrients. Chard along with some fortified pasta and nuts and you have a great meal.
We usually get like 12-15 stems of different greens every week! So What else can you do with a bunch of chard?
Add a finely chopped leaf to any of the Daal soups.
Add some to the stuffing to add to a Stuffed Naan flat bread.
or to your morning Chilla– gf breakfast thick crepe!
Farfalle with Swiss Chard Pesto
a quick and easy weeknight meal that can be prepared ahead of time. A vegan recipe that can be made gluten free
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 370kcal
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 cups (90 g) farfalle cooked al-dente with salt (or any pasta of choice. Use gf pasta for gf)
- 5 big Swiss chard leaves and soft ribs
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or organic canola oil
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) chili flakes or black pepper
- 1/2 cup (12 g) packed basil or use 2 Tablespoons basil pesto
- 1/4 cup (32.25 g) raw cashews
- 1-2 Tablespoons (1 Tablespoons) Extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup (62.5 ml) water coz my blender needs some water to blend well. and hence made about 1 cup of pesto
Instructions
- Heat olive oil/canola in a pan on low-medium heat, add garlic and chopped Swiss chard. Cook covered on low for 4-6 minutes or until the chard just about starts to wilt.
- Blend with basil, pepper, Extra virgin olive oil cashews and a little water if needed. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, without any change in color.
- Cook pasta, and serve topped with the pesto.
- Garnish with some powdered Raw cashew mixed with nutritional yeast and pepper flakes.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Farfalle with Swiss Chard Pesto
Amount Per Serving
Calories 370
Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Sodium 416mg18%
Potassium 703mg20%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 7805IU156%
Vitamin C 38.9mg47%
Calcium 98mg10%
Iron 4.1mg23%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
We had some leftover pesto, so I roasted some large Turnip slices with salt and a little oil the next day, added some fresh chopped tomatoes to the pesto, and topped the Turnip slices with it for a delicious snack!
A thought provoking statistic. One-hundred years ago there were 497 varieties of Lettuce available commercially. Today, there are less than 38. You can participate in the discussion on facebook here
Nicole Madsen
This was an awesome pesto recipe!
I didn’t have any cashews but I had cashew cream cheese so I put a scoop of it into the food processor along with all of the remaining ingredients. We loved it! I left out the chili flakes and my toddler loved it too 🙂 my husband said it was the best pesto he had ever tasted. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Vegan Richa Support
glad all enjoyed
Christine
Super yummy pesto!!! I made a pizza with the pesto and topped it with baked, marinated tofu (marinade from your tofu butter chicken recipe) and some roasted garlic and mushrooms…and topped with cashew parm…yum!
Richa
yummm!
Nimesh
Hi,
How many people would this serve? Thanks
Beth
I had some chard I needed to use and made this tonight. It is more delicious than I could ever have anticipated. I enjoyed it even more than my usual basil-only pesto. I have a new, favorite (even more healthy) pesto recipe. THANK YOU!!!
Eileen
This sounds fantastic! chard is one of my favorite greens but somehow I have never thought to make pesto with it. This clearly needs to change! 🙂
Pola M
Love pesto! One of my favorite ways of eating greens, especially the ones that lived in the fridge a tad too long…
Ashlae
One of my favorite meals is pasta topped with a vegetable based sauce – and I’m trying this one, next! Most of my sauces are spinach based, but I’ve never had swiss chard so I’m going to give it a try 🙂 Cannot wait!
Richa
Cadry, yes it applies to all greens high in oxalic acid.. since that interferes with absorption of nutrients like calcium. a quick one minute boil or steam reduces the acid content.
Cadry's Kitchen
I love pesto. It is one of those foods that feels fancy even though it’s incredibly easy, and the fresh flavors transport a person to summer when basil is in abundance. I didn’t realize that the oxalic acid in swiss chard is reduced when it’s cooked. That’s very interesting! I wonder if that is true for other vegetables that are high in oxalic acid, like spinach.
Richa
Thank you for your kind words on the earlier posts too Dassana! Hope you keep visiting!:)
Thanks Junia. You can use any other leafy green. i pick the ones available at the farm that week and then use it!:)
Thank you Jess and Anu!
Richa
Thank you Chinmayie, Raji, Char!
Thanks Deeps, you can use spinach, but spinach wilts quickly, so keep an eye on it:)
Thank you Shannon!
ANU
wow very useful post….and pesto with swiss chard…awesome innovative idea….and very healthy too!
jess
this looks wonderful richa, thank you for sharing 🙂
Junia
i LOVE the idea of roasting parsnip and topping them with pesto. DELICIOUSNESS. i don’t normally my swiss chard, but i love green leafy veggies!
dassana
lovely colors… and i liked the idea of the roasted turnips with the pesto…
Shannon
Mhmm, looks delicious! 🙂
Deeps @ Naughty Curry
this is the first time im coming across a pesto recipe where the garlic is roasted first & i love it! im not a big fan of raw garlic pesto… this iv gotta make (maybe with spinach coz iv never seen swizz chard here)
Raji
Lovely green colour of the pesto..it’s looks are so gorgeous that it makes me want to reach out to it. Healthy and superb!
Char
I LOVE that there is swiss chard in your pesto! This looks delicious 😀
chinmayie
Such a bright green color! great recipe 🙂
Richa
Thanks Shannon, Aarthi, Jay!
Jay
looks amazingly tasty..excellent preparation..;)
Tasty Appetite
Aarthi
I would love to give this a try..It looks awesome..Bookmarked it Dear..
Aarthi
https://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/
Shannon
This sounds so delicious! I haven’t made pesto in so long.