Lemon and artichoke pasta
I don’t post pasta recipes here very often, even though we eat pasta quite a lot at home – it often seems a bit too boring and straightforward to post (it doesn’t help that 90% of the time we just serve it with a dollop of shop-bought basil pesto).
I couldn’t resist sharing this lemon and artichoke pasta recipe though. Okay, it’s essentially just a lemon and artichoke pesto, so still not the most ground-breaking recipe ever, but it’s suuuuper flavourful, and only takes 15 minutes!
Hear that? As soon as your pasta’s finished boiling, you’re about 95% of the way there… my kind of recipe.
This recipe is perfect for those days when you want something a little bit special for dinner, but don’t want to spend more than 15 minutes in the kitchen (i.e. every day?).
All you need to do is add the pesto ingredients to a food processor and whizz it up. The ingredients are simple (I don’t really see the point in complicating things just for the sake of it), but they go so well together. Marinated artichokes (one of my favourite ingredients on the planet), lemon juice, parsley, a little parmesan… heavenly.
Dollop the pesto on some cooked pasta, give it another minute or two over the heat to let it warm through, and bam! Dinner’s sorted.
Somehow this recipe tastes fresh and summery, but it’s proper comfort food too. Brilliant for sunny days when you don’t want yet another salad…
Of course, if you do want to add a few extra veg to your dinner, you could definitely top your lemon and artichoke pasta with some extras. Grilled asparagus, sweetcorn, edamame, some juicy tomatoes, whatever you fancy.
And just like any pesto, you don’t have to serve it on pasta if you’d prefer not to. Spread it on toast, dollop it on a baked potato, stuff some veg with it… I will definitely be making this lemon and artichoke pasta again soon, and putting aside some of the pesto to use somewhere else!
Lemon and Artichoke Pasta
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Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 200 g pasta
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 30 g vegetarian parmesan-style cheese (~ 1 inch chunk)
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 160 g marinated artichoke hearts (~ 12 quarter hearts)
- Small handful fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil (I used the oil from the jar of artichokes)
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in a large pan of water until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, add the garlic, parmesan and pine nuts to a food processor, and blitz until the cheese has been broken down. Add the remaining ingredients, and blitz again. Add additional olive oil if you’d prefer the pesto to have a thinner consistency.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and turn the heat down low. Add the artichoke pesto to the pasta, and return to the low heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly, until warmed through.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly which ingredients you choose.
Love super quick recipes? Try my 15 minute tomato soup with basil pine nut crumb:
This looks so good! I would love this for a quick summer meal.
I love the artichoke and cheese combination. I’ll see if I can smuggle this past the hub, who is not a fan of artichokes, even marinaded ones.
I’d be tempted to put in the lemon rind as well, what do you think?
You could definitely give it a go! I do sometimes find the rind a little bitter, and I wanted quite a light lemon flavour, so I left it out – but if you’re more of a fan of it then I am then go ahead :)
This looks great. Pasta pesto is big here too. We’ll have to ring the changes with this lovely looking version :-)
This looks amazing! What a summery pasta dish
I really like the sound of this – just need to get hold of some artichokes.
Thanks Erica :)
I can hardly wait to get artichokes from my farmer’s market and make the pesto… Love these ingredients!
All the best.
*GASP* How can you possibly say the pasta — a staple in my country– could be boring?? The very idea of pasta makes my heart beat a little faster and my tummy flutter with anticipation. This recipe sounds delicious!! Certainly not boring. Thank you for sharing.
Haha I don’t necessarily think pasta itself is boring, just that I always cook it in boring ways :) I do adore it though!
This looks heavenly! I have a somewhat similar recipe written, but not tested yet. Gonna have to try this one too!
Great minds think alike!
Yes to fast, flavorful pasta! This is an excellent reason to keep a jar of artichoke hearts in the kitchen cupboard. :)
I’m no vegetarian…but even I would eat this in a heartbeat!!! Looks fabulously delicious!