An (easy) greasy pasta dish which is incredibly yummy - especially when made of the most nurturing ingredients. This pasta is made of buckwheat and the pesto is based on organic produce. It is a simple and quick meal to make, and should take about 15 minutes. As we have written in a previous post about buckwheat, there is something as amazing as pasta/noodles made of it. They are called soba noodles, and are widely used in the Japanese kitchen. The ones we have used here are 100% buckwheat, but there are a lot of different types from the brand King Soba with for example sweet potato and other vegetables. The benefit of using noodles like there in stead of "regular" refined types is that they have a low GI, about half the amount of energy and complex carbohydrates that provides long lasting energy. Buckwheat also contains a large amount of protein (ca. 15%), the amino acid lysein, calcium, magnesium and iron. It is easily digestible, which always is a plus! Boil water and add the amount of noodles you prefer. Add some salt in the water for extra taste. It's important to rinse the noodles well after use, as the buckwheat releases some colorants from its shell that doesn't taste very good.Grønn pesto (2 porsjoner):
- 1 organic basil
- 1 handfull pine nuts
- Olive oil
- Nutritional yeast (næringsgjær)
- Herbal salt
- Lemon
- Opt. 1/2 clove garlic
Heat the pine nuts lightly in a pan so they release their natural oil, which makes them taste even better. Add the basil into the food processor, and run until its chopped quite well. Add the pine nuts, olive oil, nutritional yeast and some herbal salt and lemon. Run until smooth.What is nutritional yeast (næringsgjær)?Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast, which means that it doesn't have the same properties as "regular" yeast (gjær). Nutritional yeast does though contain lot's of flavor and nutrition (ironically), including vitamin-B, folic acid, selenium, zinc and proteins. It is often fortified with vitamin-B12, which is great to add to your diet if you don't eat meat. Nutritional yeast is one of the plant based protein sources, which means that it contains all the essential amino acids that the body can't produce by itself. It has a delicious cheese like flavor and is therefore perfect to use in pesto, cashew cream, to top the popcorn with, in sauces etc. You can get it at health stores like Sunkost, Life (in Norway) or online at Kinsarvik, iherb, in Sweeden (where it's cheaper), veganstore among others.