Tahini Pasta

A simple but luxurious pasta dish! Long pasta coated in a rich and glossy tahini pasta sauce, perfect served with tenderstem broccoli.

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 20

Servings: servings

Ingredients

10.5 oz (300 g) pasta linguine or spaghetti
7 oz (200 g) tenderstem broccoli broccolini
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
2 tsp black peppercorns crushed or coarsely ground
¼ cup (60 g) tahini
¼ cup (15 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups (300 - 360 ml) pasta cooking water reserved

Instructions

In a large pan of salted water, cook the pasta 2 minutes under al dente according to the package instructions.
Drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water in a jug.
Steam or boil the tenderstem broccoli for 3-4 minutes until a deep fresh green and tender. Don't cook for too long or it can overcook and get soggy.

Sauce

While the broccoli is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, then add the crushed peppercorns and toast for 1 minute.
Add the tahini, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and 1 ¼ cups pasta water and whisk until smooth and well combined.
Add the pasta to the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes whilst stirring vigourously. In the end, the pasta should be done and you should have a glossy sauce that coats the pasta.
If necessary, add a splash more pasta water if it looks dry at any point.
Serve the tahini pasta immediately with the steamed broccoli on the side and garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Notes

Tahini: Choose a light coloured tahini made from hulled seeds for best flavour. Dark tahini tastes more bitter. Always stir tahini before measuring.

Veggies: The stalks of tenderstem broccoli aka broccolini are edible and don't need to be trimmed. However, if you have any particularly thick stalks you can slice them in half lengthwise so they cook more evenly.

For other seasonal veggies that go great with this pasta, see the variations section in the post above.

Serving and Storage: This pasta is best served fresh. If you have leftovers, store in the fridge and add more liquid when reheating to make the sauce creamy again.

Nutrition

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