This recipe is so simple I’d hardly even call it a ‘recipe’— it’s kind of amazing that something with so few ingredients could be this good.
As many good recipes are, this was created by accident, as I had nothing in my fridge and needed to make dinner. I 100% knew I wanted pasta, and I kindaaaa wanted a pesto vibe– though, truth be told, I’m not the biggest pesto person; and when I’ve made dairy free pesto recipes in the past they are pretty nut heavy and leave me feeling a little blah after. This green garlic pasta sauce is super fresh. It’s almost chimichurri adjacent? I was skeptical myself— but the simplicity of fresh green herbs, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and chili flakes is really all a noodle needs. “ALL A NOODLE NEEDS” is my campaign slogan for this recipe.
I’m all about being able to customize a recipe– and this one is VERY customizable—that’s what’s pretty great about savory recipes.
The first time I made this all I had was half a bunch of limp parsley and cilantro– and guess what? It worked.
Next time I added in some fresh mint—-definitely works (highly reccomend)
Basil? WORKS!
You can sub in and sub out any of these herbs, a combo of all four is preferable, but you can also use just two. I do recommend keeping the base of parsley and cilantro, though. Just make sure you have 2 to 3 cups of fresh green herbs (give or take, doesn’t have to be exact).
Ingredients:Â
**all herbs loosely packed
1 cup parsley
1 cup cilantro
1/4 cup basil (optional)
1/4 cup fresh mint (optional)
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil (good quality olive oil encouraged for this! Break out the good stuff)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teapsoon sea salt
1/4 -1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (depending how spicy you want it)
1 package of gluten free pasta (I used brown rice spaghetti here- my favorite brand is ‘Jovial’)
Directions:
1. Bring water for the pasta to a boil while you prepare the green sauce. Once boiling add in your pasta and cook according to the instructions.
2. In a chopper or food processor, add garlic and pulse until finely minced.
3. Next, add in all the herbs and pulse until finely chopped. You don’t want to totally puree it, you want it to be a little chunky. It should just look like finely chopped herbs at this point.
4. At this point add the lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, and chili flakes, then process until combined. It should look like a chimichurri or pesto, slightly smooth but still a little chunky.
5. Add the sauce to a pan on medium heat and warm it up while the pasta finishes cooking. Cooking the sauce a bit will bring out a new flavor profile in the herbs. Add in pasta and toss with the sauce. Add extra sea salt and chili flakes as desired.
