GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE
Pasta with Fish & Rocket Pesto is a quick, easy and healthy dish. The mild spicy/peppery flavour of the rocket lights up your taste buds and combines well with the fish pieces and the brown rice pasta. Delicious and it’ll be a massive hit. A real treat for a week night meal.
I don’t know about you but I love putting rocket, also known as arugula, in my salads. It’s distinctive flavour gives your salad a bit of a kick!
Rocket is a nutritious leafy-green vegetable, rich in vitamin C, iron and copper and is extremely low in calories, just 5 calories in one cup. Rocket has many common names such as arugula, roquette, rocket salad, rucola, rucoli, and rugula.
![pasta with fish rocket pesto](https://yummyalternatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/pasta-with-fish-rocket-pesto-8.jpg)
Young rocket leaves have a sweet, nutty flavour but develop into a strong peppery and spicy flavour as they mature. For this reason it’s best to mix it with other greens to add a bit of spice to the salad.
This Rocket Pesto recipe can be used as a sauce for pasta, ravioli, gnocchi or even in your burger!
I used pasta made from brown rice in this recipe. It’s actually quite new to me. I tried it a couple of weeks ago as a gluten free substitute and I must say it tastes great. Nothing like pasta made from white rice which quite frankly I’m not that fond of.
SO WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE BROWN RICE PASTA?
- It’s Gluten & Wheat Free – brown rice pasta makes a great choice especially if you have a food intolerance or allergy.
- A tasty alternative to your traditional pasta
- Closely resembles the taste of wheat pasta.
- Higher fibre content
There are quite a few gluten free varieties of pasta out there but I find that this brown rice pasta really does closely resemble the traditional wheat pasta. I suggest you try it and let me know your opinion.
![pasta with fish rocket pesto-](https://yummyalternatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/pasta-with-fish-rocket-pesto-17.jpg)
Pasta with Fish & Rocket Pesto is made with lightly pan-fried fish fillet pieces and combined with the rocket pesto together with the pasta.
I made this Rocket Pesto without cheese so it’s vegetarian and if you omit the fish from the recipe it’s completely vegan.
Of course if you don’t have a problem with dairy, then by all means substitute the nutritional yeast flakes by adding some pecorino or parmesan cheese.
NUTRITIONAL YEAST
I discovered Nutritional Yeast a couple of years ago when I was looking for a substitute to parmesan cheese. It has a cheesy, savoury and nutty flavour and is widely used in vegan cooking.
There are different types of yeast:
- Brewer’s yeast which is grown on hops and a by-product in the beer making process.
- Baker’s yeast, as the name suggests used in baking, and
- Nutritional yeast which can be grown from blackstrap molasses and sugar beets.
SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
- It’s dairy free and usually gluten free..
- Low in fat
- Sugar free
- Soy free
- Great source of vitamins, minerals and protein
HOW TO USE NUTRITIONAL YEAST
It can be added as a savoury seasoning to a variety of dishes such as pasta, sauces, vegetables.
However be cautious with the amount you use to begin with as it does have a distinctive flavour. It’s best to start with a small amount and keep adding a pinch until you get your required taste.
Nutritional yeast can be used:
- In risotto or pasta dishes instead of Parmesan cheese
- As a cheese alternative when making a vegan cheese sauce
- Add it to soups for added nutrients
- Adding it to a pesto recipe instead of Pecorino cheese
Nutritional yeast is still classified as a yeast, so if you suffer from a yeast allergy or intolerance you’d be best to avoid using it.
So let’s get down to business and talk about today’s recipe: Pasta with Fish & Rocket Pesto
![pasta with fish rocket pesto-](https://yummyalternatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/pasta-with-fish-rocket-pesto-34-600x400.jpg)
It sounds difficult but it’s actually really simple and quick to make. If you don’t have access to fresh fish fillets then feel free to use frozen fish fillets. Choose whichever type of white fish you like.
I say white in case there are salmon lovers out there. I’m a salmon lover too but I haven’t tried this recipe with salmon, not yet anyway. So not sure how it would turn out!
This fish is pan fried with a little extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt & pepper.
The Rocket Pesto can be blended ahead of time and even the day before and stored in the refrigerator in an air tight container, preferably glass. Because the quantity for this recipe is for 2 people, we used a mini food processor to make the pesto. I say we, because I actually asked my husband to make the Rocket Pesto. He’s an expert Pesto maker so I prepared the ingredients for him and got him to make it to ensure it was perfect!
TIPS WHEN MAKING PESTO
The most important thing my husband has taught me when making pesto is to make sure that the pesto doesn’t overheat during the blending process. This is especially pertinent when making larger quantities and extremely important when making the traditional pesto, using the delicate basil leaves otherwise they easily darken resulting in the pesto losing it’s vibrant green colour.
- Therefore, place the blender bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to making the pesto.
- You may need to stop in between blending and place the bowl in the refrigerator to allow it to cool down before continuing the blending process.
- Buy good quality pine nuts and taste them before you use them. You don’t want rancid tasting pine nuts to ruin the pesto.
- A genuine pesto recipe only uses pine nuts.
- Ensure that the greens you are using are super fresh and that the basil or in this case, rocket leaves are in good condition and aren’t wilted.
- Ensure that the leaves are washed and thoroughly dry.
- For those of you that don’t have a problem with dairy, then the best cheese to use is Pecorino. It has a stronger and saltier taste rather than Parmesan.
PASTA WITH FISH AND ROCKET PESTO
GLUTEN & DAIRY FREE: Pasta with Fish & Rocket Pesto is a quick, easy and healthy dish. The mild spicy/peppery flavour of the rocket lights up your taste buds and combines well with the fish pieces and the brown rice pasta. Delicious and it’ll be a massive hit. A real treat for a week night meal.
Ingredients
- 180g (6 ½ oz) gluten free pasta (I used pasta made from brown rice)
- 150g (5 ½ oz) fish fillets
- 80g rocket (arugula)
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 20 g (0,7 oz) pine nuts
- 2 pinches of nutritional yeast (or grated dairy free parmesan/pecorino cheese to taste – 1-2 heaped tablespoons, to taste)
- salt
Instructions
1Since this recipe is for 2, the quantities for making the pesto aren’t enough to place into a normal sized blender so I have used a mini food processor.
2If the quantities are small and you place them in a blender the ingredients won’t blend properly.
3At least 30 minutes prior to making the pesto, place the blender bowl into the refrigerator to allow it to become cold.
4Take blender bowl out of refrigerator.
5Peel the garlic clove and chop roughly. Place into blender together with a little of the oil.
6Process for about 5 seconds.
7Add the pine nuts and the rocket and start to blend using the pulse button and slowly drizzling in the rest of the extra virgin olive oil.
8If you need to, stop and push down the rocket and then keep pulsing until it is perfectly blended into a creamy like sauce.
9Add the nutritional yeast and then add salt to taste. Pulse again to blend these last two ingredients well.
10Pour into an airtight glass container and refrigerate until ready to be used.