When Meridian sent me a jar of pumpkin seed butter, I won't lie, I had no idea what the hell I was meant to do with it. I opened the jar expecting a peanut butter-esque product, and was greeted by a green goop. A tasty green goop, but a green goop all the same. In fact, after trying to get my brain cells to do something productive, something did click and I realised what the butter reminded me of in appearance: pesto. And since then, this butter has become the base for the above dish. A super fast, tasty, healthy, and colourful dish you can cook in under 10 minutes. I don't know about you, but my local Chinese takeaway takes 40 minutes to deliver food. And I would much rather have this. I can see me consuming an awful lot of that beautiful green goop in pasta dishes this coming year at uni...
Ingredients
- 1 wholemeal noodle nest
- 6 mushrooms
- 10 baby plum tomatoes
- 1 handful mange tout
- 1 large handful of spinach
- 1/2 one red chilli, or 1/2-1tsp chilli flakes
- 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 small handful fresh basil, or 1tsp dried basil
- White pepper and mixed seasoning to taste
- 1tbsp pumpkin seed butter (I used Meridian)
- 1 tbsp. water
Method
- First things first: chop the mushrooms into thick slices, and chop six of the tomatoes into halves. Slice the red chilli into thin slices. Put the kettle on (trust me: this will save you time).
- Add the garlic and chilli into a pan with a little cooking spray or oil and gently sauté, on a low heat, for around one minute. After this throw in the mushrooms, and the mange tout. Pour the boiled water into a different pan, and turn this pan onto a high heat, bringing the water back to the boil. Add the noodle nest into this water for 4 minutes. Now add the tomatoes to the other veggies, putting four of them to one side.
- Throw the spinach and 1 tbsp. of water into your veggie pan, and once the spinach has wilted slightly add the pumpkin butter; give it all a good stir up. Throw in the seasonings and the basil.
- Drain the noodles and add them to the veggie pan, tossing everything together. Chuck into a dish, and top with a little more mixed seasoning, basil, and the four remaining tomatoes (I wanted to add mine now for a bit of variation in texture on the tomato front).
And there you have it! One very healthy, very filling, cheap, and nutrient rich dish in under 10 minutes. Beats a takeaway hands down. Labels: cheap, fibre, Food, meridian, noodles, pasta, pumpkin seed butter, student food, student meal, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
