Jalapeno Cilantro Pesto Undon Noodles
Ingredients
Jalapeño Cilantro Pesto:
- 2 cups cilantro, packed
- 1 jalapeño, chopped (deseed if you want a milder pesto)
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
- ¼ pecans, chopped (you can sub walnuts or almonds)
- 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup baby spinach (optional)
- 12 basil leaves (optional)
- fresh lime juice
- 2-4 tablespoons
- Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta:
- 2 bundles within 1 package of Udon Noodles (spaghetti and fettuccine noodles work too)
- ½ package of extra firm Tofu, drained, cut into cubes, salt and
- 1 cup shelled edamame (I used frozen edamame)
- 30 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Jalapeno Cilantro Pesto:
- You can make the pesto a few days beforehand, in fact, it tastes better if you do.
- Blend all the pesto ingredients in a food processor until it looks like pesto. Add any additional ingredients to taste. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Pasta:
- Put the frozen edamame onto a plate and set aside to allow to thaw.
- Bring a big pot of boiling water to a boil.
- While the water is heating up, heat a large pan/skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and brown it on all sides.Once it's browned on all sides, set aside on a plate.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add the udon noodles. After 3 minutes in the boiling water, they should be almost done. Add the edamame to the noodles and cook for an additional minute.
- Check the noodles, they should be al dente, Before pouring the noodles and edamame into a colander, reserve approx 1 cup of the pasta water.
- After you've drained the noodles and edamame, add them back into the pasta pot. Now add about a ½ of the pesto mixture, the tomatoes, and approx 4 tablespoons of parmesan. Mix everything together until the pasta is well coated with the pesto, adding the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to make a silky pesto sauce and prevent the pasta from drying out. Continue to add more pesto, parmesan cheese, and reserved pasta water, until you reach the sauce consistency you enjoy.
- Then, taste the noodles and adjust the seasonings. If you feel the pasta needs salt, try adding a splash of lemon juice first to make the ingredients pop. If you still feel like the pasta needs salt and pepper, and at this time.
- Last, add the tofu to the pasta and gently combine until every is well coated. Serve the pasta in bowls adding additional cilantro and cheese to your liking.
- Enjoy!
Notes
The Udon Noodles normally come in 3 bundles, in one package. I used 2 out of 3 of the bundles.
I was able to brown the tofu without adding additional oil because I used a nonstick pan. If you don't have a nonstick pan, you may want to add some oil to prevent the tofu from sticking.
I used about ¾ of the pesto mixture. I froze the rest. Pesto freezes really well if you want to add it to another meal later on.
You do not need to purchase basil and spinach for this recipe. I had some laying around so I used it up, the recipe still tastes delicious without it.
Calorie Breakdown:
The pesto:
2 cups of cilantro….. 8
1 jalapeño……………..6
1/4 cup pecans……..210
2 cloves garlic……….8
1 cup spinach………..10
12 basil leaves……….3
2 tbsp lime juice……10 The Pasta: 1 cup edamame…….240
Noodles………………650
1/2 pkg of tofu……..175
30 c tomatoes………92
8 tbsp cheese……….160
Lemon juice………..8 Total: 1,910.75 2 servings : 959.88 4 servings: 484.43 Note..I am NOT a nutritionist nor am I pretending to me. I found the nutritional values by using the ingredient labels and Google.
1 jalapeño……………..6
1/4 cup pecans……..210
2 cloves garlic……….8
1 cup spinach………..10
12 basil leaves……….3
2 tbsp lime juice……10 The Pasta: 1 cup edamame…….240
Noodles………………650
1/2 pkg of tofu……..175
30 c tomatoes………92
8 tbsp cheese……….160
Lemon juice………..8 Total: 1,910.75 2 servings : 959.88 4 servings: 484.43 Note..I am NOT a nutritionist nor am I pretending to me. I found the nutritional values by using the ingredient labels and Google.