Take a break from Italian-style pasta and have Japanese buckwheat soba noodles for dinner tonight. When the water gets boiling, these noodles cook in just few minutes. And since buckwheat contains no gluten, this recipe for Soba with Parsley-Pea Pesto a great excuse to invite a gluten-free friend over for dinner!
Many soba noodle recipes are served cold, and therefore, you can pack the leftovers of this soba salad—coated in a light parsley-pea pesto, with a slight crunch from the roughly chopped kale—for lunch and eat it straight from the office fridge.
Grocery List
Organized by area of the market
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 bunch fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon, tested and juiced
- 4 cups frozen peas
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 100 grams dried soba noodles
We're assuming you already have salt, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, but if not, add them to your list too!
The Game Plan
About 20 minutes before dinner, start a pot of water to boil and defrost the peas by placing them in a medium bowl with water and microwaving for 4 to 5 minutes on high. Stir the peas at the halfway point! When the water is at a rolling boil, add soba noodles and remove from the heat. Allow the noodles to sit in the water for 4 to 5 minutes, which will prevent the noodles from overcooking.
Drain peas, and add 2 cups of them to the bowl of a food processor with the parsley, lemon juice and zest, almonds, salt and pepper to taste, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Pulse a few times, then slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of olive oil, adding more depending on how thick you want the pesto.
Just before sitting down, drain the noodles, mix in the remaining peas and the chopped kale, and toss with the pesto.
See the full recipe here.
The Food52 Vegan Cookbook is here! With this book from Gena Hamshaw, anyone can learn how to eat more plants (and along the way, how to cook with and love cashew cheese, tofu, and nutritional yeast).
Order now
Join The Conversation