This creamy super green pasta sauce is as delicious as it is nutritious – made in under 10 minutes from peas, basil, lemon and pine nuts.
I could happily eat pasta every day of the week. There are so many sauces to choose from — creamy, tomatoey, bolognese-style, spicy — and this is my go-to when I want something comforting but light.
This quick super green pasta sauce comes together while your pasta cooks. It’s a slightly saucier take on pea pesto and is wonderfully bright and fresh.
Peas are small nutritional powerhouses, supplying protein and vitamins. Combined with spinach, lemon, pine nuts, basil and mint, they make a silky, vibrant sauce that turns simple pasta into a satisfying meal.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
- baby spinach
- fresh basil
- fresh mint
- lemon
- frozen peas
- garlic purée or ready‑chopped garlic
- pine nuts
- pasta of your choice (spaghetti, linguine or tagliatelle work well)
Equipment
A mini chopper, food processor or hand blender makes blitzing the sauce easy. A small food processor is ideal for single portions; a larger machine is handy if you want to make bigger batches to freeze.
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📖 Recipe
Super Green Pasta Sauce
Kate Ford | The Veg Space
3 mins
7 mins
10 mins
Main
Italian
2 people
443 kcal
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 cup frozen peas (about a small mug full)
- handful baby spinach
- handful fresh basil
- handful fresh mint
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon ready-chopped garlic / garlic purée
- 2 tablespoon pine nuts
To serve:
- 160 g pasta (spaghetti, linguine or tagliatelle)
Instructions
-
Bring two saucepans of water to the boil — one larger for the pasta and one smaller for the peas. Add the pasta to the large pan and the peas to the smaller pan.
-
When the peas are tender (about 4 minutes), drain them and reserve a few tablespoons to scatter on top when serving. Tip the rest into a blender or food processor.
-
Add the spinach, basil, mint, juice of the lemon, garlic and pine nuts to the blender. Blitz until smooth, adding a little water, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce reaches a silky, pourable consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
-
Drain the pasta when cooked, return it to the pan, pour in the green sauce and gently warm, tossing to coat. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the reserved whole peas.
Nutrition
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