Quick cook, quick carb: this is an excellent way to update pesto pasta, with sharp feta and lemon alongside the fresh basil pesto and cream cheese sauce. Cannellini beans and kale add texture, and they’re good for you, too, making this a winning dish all around. You can easily substitute the kale for swiss chard or spinach, if that’s what you have in the fridge, while haricot beans work well, too – use fresh pesto from the supermarket chiller counter to lift the flavour.
Green linguine with kale, cannellini beans and feta
Prep 5 min
Cook 12-13 min
Serves 2
180-200g dried linguine
Salt
150g kale, trimmed and finely sliced
1 x 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
140g fresh, chilled basil pesto
100g cream cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
100g feta, crumbled
1 handful toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, then add the linguine and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until it’s done to your liking. Add the sliced kale after nine minutes, and the beans just before you drain the pasta, so they warm through.
Drain the pasta, kale and beans, reserving a good mugful of the cooking water. Return the pasta, kale and beans to the pan, and add the pesto, cream cheese and lemon juice, and mix well, adding the reserved pasta water as needed to create a smooth sauce. Adjust the salt and lemon juice to taste, and serve immediately in warmed bowls topped with the crumbled feta and toasted hazelnuts.
