Cook Mode
Vegan Spicy Pesto Rigatoni
CourseMainCuisineItalianDifficultyEasy
Servings
4
servingsPrep time
10
minutesCooking time
15
minutesTotal time
25
minutesIngredients
- For the pasta
12 oz (340 g) rigatoni
Salt for the pasta water
½–¾ cup reserved pasta water
- For the spicy vegan pesto
2 packed cups (50–60 g) fresh basil leaves
2 cups (60 g) baby spinach
⅓ cup (45 g) pine nuts, walnuts, or cashews
2 large garlic cloves
⅓ cup (30 g) vegan Parmesan (try Violife or Follow Your Heart)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
½–1 tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
- To finish
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts
Vegan Parmesan
Red pepper flakes
Fresh basil
Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
- Toast the nuts
- Place the pine nuts or walnuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat.
- Toast for 2–4 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly golden. Watch them closely, especially pine nuts, which burn quickly.
- Set aside a couple of tablespoons for serving.
- Make the spicy pesto
- Add the basil, spinach, remaining toasted nuts, garlic, vegan Parmesan, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, lemon zest, chili flakes, salt, and several grinds of black pepper to a food processor.
- Pulse until finely chopped.
- With the processor running, gradually drizzle in the olive oil until you have a thick, slightly textured pesto.
- Taste and adjust the heat. For a moderately spicy pesto, ½ teaspoon chili flakes is plenty. For something with a real kick, use the full teaspoon.
- Cook the rigatoni
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
- Cook the rigatoni until just al dente, according to the package directions.
- Before draining, scoop out at least ¾ cup of the starchy pasta water.
- Drain the pasta, but don’t rinse it.
- Turn the pesto into a silky sauce
- Return the rigatoni to the warm pot with the heat turned off.
- Add about three-quarters of the pesto and ¼ cup of reserved pasta water.
- Toss vigorously until the pesto clings to the ridges and works its way inside the rigatoni.
- Add more pesto and pasta water as necessary. You’ll probably use around ⅓–½ cup pasta water in total. The sauce should look slightly looser than you ultimately want—it will thicken as it sits.
- Finish
- Divide between shallow bowls and scatter with the reserved toasted nuts.
- Finish with vegan Parmesan, fresh basil, a drizzle of good olive oil, and another pinch of red pepper flakes for the appearance and heat in the photo.
Notes
- The trick to bright-green pesto:
Don’t cook the pesto directly over high heat. Excessive heat dulls fresh basil and can turn that beautiful green sauce brown.
Instead, toss the pesto with hot pasta off the heat, using starchy pasta water to emulsify the olive oil into a creamy sauce.
For an even brighter green pesto, blanch the basil and spinach in boiling water for 10 seconds, immediately plunge them into ice water, then squeeze them completely dry before blending. - Want it extra spicy?
For something more interesting than simply adding additional chili flakes, stir 1–2 teaspoons of Calabrian-style chili paste into the finished pesto. Check that the particular brand is vegan. It adds a fruity, savory chili flavor that works exceptionally well with basil, garlic, and rigatoni.
