Broad Bean Pasta Salad with Watercress Pesto
35 minutes
A great pasta salad with watercress and walnut pesto. An unusual and delicious combination of flavours but not hard to make.
Zoë Harpham
1 person made this
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 300g fusilli
- 2 1/2 cups (400g) fresh or frozen shelled baby broad beans, thawed if necessary
- 400g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 150g lean cooked ham, diced
- 1/4 cup (15g) chopped fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 50g watercress leaves, roughly chopped
- Watercress and walnut pesto
- 50g watercress leaves
- 1/3 cup (40g) chopped walnuts
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lemon, rind grated and juiced
- 1/4 cup (65g) low-fat natural yoghurt
Directions
Preparation:15min ›
Cook:20min ›
Ready in:35min
- Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Add the broad beans and bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and cook for a further 2–3 minutes until the pasta is tender and the beans are lightly cooked.
- Meanwhile, mix together the tomatoes, ham, chives and oil in a large serving bowl. Set aside. To make the pesto, process the watercress, walnuts and garlic together in a food processor or blender until finely ground. Add half the oil and pulse until combined, then add the remaining oil, lemon rind and juice and the yoghurt and blend again. Season to taste.
- Drain the pasta and beans and immediately add them to the tomato mixture. Mix well, then cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Stir the pesto and chopped watercress into the salad, then serve immediately.
