This plant based creamy pasta dish is very quick and simple to make and is perfect for a meal in a hurry. It has a unique flavour from tahini and zesty lemon and a portion of daily spinach greens.
This dish is something different from most pasta dishes that are tomato based or cream based. Although the tahini also helps to create a creamy texture, it also adds a unique flavour to this dish.
What is Tahini?
Tahini is a made from roasted ground sesame seeds. Seeds are usually high in fat and being made from seeds, tahini is also high in fat. The fat in tahini however, mostly compromises of healthier polyunsaturated fat, with only a small proportion of the fat in tahini coming from saturated fat. It’s popular in Middle Eastern dishes, and is one of the main ingredients often used to make hummus.
Ingredients in the Tahini Lemon Pasta
- Pasta
- Tahini
- Lemon juice
- Soy sauce
- Garlic
- Pine nuts
- Nutritional yeast
- Spinach leaves
How to Make Tahini Lemon Pasta
To start with, first you get the pasta on an cooking according to the packet instructions.
Then add the tahini to a small jug, cup or similar container. Squeeze the juice from one lemon and add along with the tahini. Then peel and finely chop the garlic and add. Net add the soy sauce. Add 100ml of water and mix everything together to a smooth consistency. I like to use a hand whisk for this for convenience, but you can also use a fork.
Next prepare the pine nuts by roasting them on a dry pan on a medium high heat for around 3-4 minutes. Once they start to become aromatic and start to brown, shake them in the pan so they don’t burn on one side. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from the pan. This last step is important as the pan is still hot and they can still burn even when you remove the pan from the hob (I learnt this the hard way).
Next, I like to roughly chop the spinach leaves. You can add them without chopping, but I think the texture is better when they are chopped, and chopping helps to create extra beneficial compounds.
When the pasta is just about ready but slightly al dente, rinse to remove the water then throw back into the pot. Add the spinach and sauce along with the nutritional yeast and heat on medium for 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach has melted.
Serve with a sprinkle of black pepper.
More Pasta Dishes from The Fit Dish:
If you want to try out more plant based pasta dishes, then I recommend checking out the below.
- 10 Minute Creamy Vegan Pasta with Lentils
- Tomato and Hidden Vegetable Pasta Sauce
- High Protein Red Lentil Pasta Salad – Gluten Free
- Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Pasta (Vegan)
- Penne Pasta Arrabiata With Aubergine
15 Minute Lemon Tahini Pasta
Equipment
- 1 pot
- 1 chopping board
Ingredients
- 180 g pasta
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 garlic clove
- 100 g spinach leaves
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions
- While the pasta is cooking, add the tahini to a small jug or cup along with the soy sauce. Peel and finely chop the garlic clove and add. Cut the lemon in hald and juice the lemon, then add the juice of the lemon too. Add around 100 ml of water and mix together until the sauce has reached a smooth consistency (I use a hand blender)
- Add the pine nuts to a dry pan on a medium/high heat. Roast on the pan for a few minutes unil they start to brown slighly and become fragrant. Shake the pan so the pine nuts don't burn on one side and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove them from the pan.
- Chop the spinach up so its ready to add to the pasta.
- Once the pasta is cooked and is even slightly al dente, rinse the pasta. Add back the the pot and coat with the sauce. Add the pine nuts, nutritional yeast and the spinach and cook on a medium heat for another minute or two until the spinach has wilted.
- Serve in bowls with a little black pepper.
