Green kale & walnut pesto pasta with crispy-edged roasted broccoli and brussel sprouts – healthy, easy and very green!  Jump to Recipe 

So happy right now.

A week of hectic studying for our mid-semester exam has finally culminated in the exam (this morning) being over – such a relief. Intensive studying can’t be good for anyone, although it has instigated my new found love of coffee (small double shot flat white, extra hot please!).

I never thought I would be a coffee person: although I have grown up around it (with Dad drinking five or six coffees a day and roasting his own green bean blends in his 1kg coffee roaster downstairs), as a child I associated the smell with long car trips (obviously, we always had to take a coffee machine and roasted beans with us!), and therefore carsickness (yes, I am that person..), and even in the last few years I have resisted, thinking that I don’t want to spend my money on coffee (oops). I also have never liked milk, and a big milky drink like a hot chocolate made me feel slightly ill. However, being a bit sick, rundown and tired in the cold Melbourne winter in the past few weeks has led to more than a few coffee runs from St Ali’s over at uni – and I have quickly discovered that I love it, and am unsure how I have dealt with being tired in the past – like, so much alertness going on here. Seriously.

The weather is also a part of my mood: spring seemed to arrive here in Melbourne today (as it should, seeing as it is now September) – sunny and almost 20 degrees for the first time in months. Plus we went out for lunch to celebrate a birthday (hello, turmeric goats cheese, pesto freekah grains, roasted truss tomatoes & poached eggs on sourdough with smoked salmon at District Brewer). Yes, I love Melbourne cafes.

BUT I also haven’t posted for a week, so here is a go-to quick, healthy dinner that can be on the table in half an hour – kale & walnut pesto pasta with roasted greens. If you make the pesto ahead, it could be even less. The pesto is nutty, lemony and fragrant, spiked with garlic and basil, and super healthy with all that kale (it seems like a huge amount when you make the pesto, but trust me, it does shrink down when you cook it), and pairs perfectly with steaming hot pasta and crispy-edged roasted broccoli. I never realised how good roasted greens were until recently – SO much more flavour than steamed. And, yes those are brussel sprouts, transformed into crisp and flaky bites by their oven time (hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!). And if you wanted to make it even healthier and greener, you could replace some of the spaghetti with zucchini zoodles. Up to you.

Your pasta to pesto and vegetable ratio will depend on the number of people you are serving, how much pasta everyone eats (for example, my brothers eat enough for 2 people each!) and if they like lots of vegetables. The pesto makes enough for around 8 servings, so you may have some left over, which can be stored in an airtight container or jar for 1-2 weeks in the fridge (or frozen for longer). It can be used in many other ways too – toss it through a salad dressing, spread it on toast or in your sandwich, eat it with eggs, use it to marinade meat, pop a tablespoon on top of your tomato soup… you name it!

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