Pasta with silverbeet cream and pistachio pesto

Pick the silverbeet from your veggie garden (or buy it!), as much as you can, since it goes down a lot! I used young tender leaves of rainbow chard. Sauté with olive oil, one sliced shallot and salt. Cover and cook in its own steam (if you pick it fresh it will have enough water, otherwise you will need to add a little). Once it is cooked blend everything with an immersion blender until you get a dark green 'cream'.

To make the pesto I used some basil (from the garden), garlic, salt, olive oil and this ground pistachios that a Slow Food friend gave me in Italy. I really love this product, you can put it on pasta, in sauces and dips, and desserts! 

 To assemble: I cooked the pasta al dente, then tossed it in the pan with the silverbeet cream, then dished it, added a slice of ricotta on top (not for Vegans, and also not necessary to the dish, but I had some to use up, also if you like the idea of something white you can use a slice of soft tofu), a tsp of pistachio pesto, a drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil leaves. Simple, and very green!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©