Delectables with Dan Presents: Italian Night Take 2: Red Lentil Pasta in a Vegan Pesto Sauce

Hey guys! 

Delectables with Dan is back with another Italian Night!
I'm a flavour whore. I like things with different flavours that really make a dish come alive, that being said, I always felt like there were some dishes that I could improve the healthy attributes to while not losing any flavour. I used to love pesto. It was unholy how much I loved the stuff and when I converted to veganism, I found out that most pestos I can't have. I shouldn't say can't have, I mean I could eat them, I just don't wish to because of the dairy aspect. I set off to try and experiment and make one that lived up to what I'm used to. I decided to make a pesto sauce, since they're all the rage these days, well appear to be at least and pair it with some noodles. I didn't want to do just straight pasta, I wanted something with fewer carbohydrates, more fibre and more vegetables in it. I found these amazing red lentil noodles and decided they'd be the perfect pasta to experiment with. I've done things with whole grain pasta, soybean noodles and chickpea noodles all of which have turned out amazing. I feel this new kind of flavour freedom with these new varieties and I feel better physically. I should have started this sooner! 

Let's whip up an amazing red lentil pasta dish with a zesty pesto sauce!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 

2c. fresh basil leaves (it doesn't have to be organic)

2 cloves of fresh garlic 

1 tsp salt 

2 tsp. red pepper flakes 

1/3c. pine nuts (I forgot to put them in the photo, per usual. ha)

1/2c. vegan parmesan (shredded works better, but I didn't have any so I used the powdered)

1/2c. olive oil 

3 tbsp nutritional yeast (gives it a nice creamy flavour)

1/2c. cashew milk (you can use almond milk, but this helps to give it a thicker, creamier taste) 

You don't need to use pine nuts if you don't wish to! Sometimes it actually is better without the pinenuts.

OTHER STUFF 

3-4 tablespoons Italian style diced tomatoes 

1/4c. vegan mozzarella cheese 

meatless meatballs (any brand, I just love Gardein) 

1 tsp. dried cilantro

1 tsp. dried oregano 

I used a blender to make mine but you can use a food processor if you have one. I was too lazy to dig mine out. Firstly, prepare your basil and garlic. Remove all the stems from the basil and drop it into the blender. Second, remove the outer skin of the garlic and mince it; I more or less diced it up and let the blender do most of the work. Why? Because I was in a hurry to just make and eat so I could go to sleep. Sometimes it's hard to come home from a long day and not only be creative in the kitchen but stay awake long enough to eat something healthy. 

Add the garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes into the blender. Add in the milk and olive oil, give a slight stir if possible. Turn on to puree setting and let it go for about 20-30 seconds. Add in the nutritional yeast, pine nuts and parmesan. Blend on the same setting for 30-60 seconds, scraping down the sides of the blender/food processor if needed. 

Allow sitting on the counter while you whip up the noodles. Nothing special here. Just a splash of olive oil (Christ, I really love this shit, don't I?) pinch of salt. Bring the water to boil and cook until the pasta is al dente. While the noodles are cooking, cook up 2-3 meatballs (depending on how much you want to eat. It's 2-3 meatballs per person.) This doesn't make a lot of pesto sauce, so if you really want a thick coating of it over a large number of noodles you should double the recipe. Drain the pasta and place back into the same pot that you cooked it in, pour the pesto sauce all over the noodles, making sure to coat the pasta. Using a rubber scraper to scrape any extra sauce out of the blender/food processor make sure you've got it all out and mix the sauce over the noodles. Once they are evenly coated, add in the diced tomatoes over low heat, making sure that your dish is nice and hot. Remove from heat and put into bowl and top with meatballs, mozzarella cheese, dried oregano and dried cilantro. It really pairs well with a nice glass of wine, but as I didn't have any, a cranberry and vodka did nicely. 

I really loved whipping up this dish. It only took about 40 minutes total time and was not only filled with flavour but rich antioxidants. I'm really digging this healthier eating. Have some recipes for me to experiment with? Send them my way: daninterviews@gmail.com. I just don't eat healthy things all the time, I do have some favourite vegan junk foods! Maybe I should do a blog on that for all you fellow veggies who have a sweet tooth! I've got so many more things that I want to do on this blog and have it branch out in so many different ways.