Whether you’re looking for a light meal, an unusual side dish or something different to make from your own produce, these roast zucchini w/nasturtium leaf pesto fit the bill!
Tasty yet vitamin-rich, this neat little dish packs a serious punch of greens. Sure to be a crowd-pleaser for vegetarians, roast zucchini w/nasturtium leaf pesto showcases the unique peppery flavour of nasturtiums, highlighted by delightful roasted pine nuts. If you want to make it a side, simply add a meat of your choice. I can see lean roast beef, poached chicken or grilled fish marrying well here.
Here’s How to Make It
Preheat the oven then line a baking tray with baking paper. Top & tail the zucchini, then slice them in half vertically. Scoop out the flesh. Remove enough that the zucchini will hold some filling, but leave enough that allows the zucchini to hold its shape.
Place the zucchini on the baking tray. Spray with oil and bake for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the pesto. Place the nasturtium leaves, cheese, oil and garlic into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.
Once the leaves have blended down, stop and taste the mixture. I like mine spicy, so I added 2 large pinches of dried chilli, ground black pepper and 3 big pinches of herb salt. Blend the mixture a little further, then decant to a bowl & set aside.
Cook the couscous as per instructions on the packaging. Once ready, mix it with the pesto.
Remove the zucchini from the oven. Fill them with the pesto mixture, then top with pine nuts. Add a little more salt if you like (I didn’t). Roast a further 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with nasturtium flowers.
Roast Zucchini w/Nasturtium Leaf Pesto
Equipment
- 1 food processor
- 1 baking tray
- baking paper
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 small saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 large zucchini choose straight fruit
- 2 cups nasturtium leaves
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/2 cup cous cous
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- nasturtium flowers, for garnish optional
- spray oil
- dried chilli to taste, optional
- salt & pepper to taste, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Halve and chop the ends off the zucchini. Scoop the flesh out.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and spray lightly with spray oil.
- Place the zucchini on the baking tray, spray lightly with oil and bake for around 45 minutes or until softened (about half-cooked).
- Meanwhile, make the pesto by adding the garlic, cheese, oil and nasturtium leaves into a food processor and blending until smooth. Taste, then season if desired.
- Cook the cous cous according to instructions on the packaging. Strain then cool a little.
- Mix the pesto into the cous cous then fill the zucchini with the mixture.
- Sprinkle generously with pine nuts then bake for half an hour or until the pine nuts are nicely roasted.
- Serve with nasturtium flowers as garnish. Season to taste.
