guys, this recipe is really easy. like, easy enough for those just-came-home-from-school-starving-and-need-to-put something-in-my-stomach-ASAP-but-shoot-my-fridge-is-empty moments.

and since my graduation countdown is now at 29 days (!!), operation pantry-clean out is well under way. somehow over the past few months i’ve managed to collect 8 unopened boxes of pasta. (further evidence of my food hoarding problem….) so i figured i should probably start working on that. use 8 boxes of pasta in 29 days? challenge accepted.

gulp. but- with this new yummy sauce i’ve concocted, i don’t think it’s going to be such a challenge after all.

it’s packed with fresh basil and healthy fats from walnuts, flax seeds, and olive oil. plus the sun dried tomatoes give it a little tartness.

and if you have any other suggestions of must-try recipes to help me use up this ridiculous amount of pasta, i’m all ears :)

happy eating!

Sun Dried Tomato and Flax Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup basil (1 small package of fresh basil)

1/4 c walnuts

1/4 c sundried tomatoes

2 T hot water (plus a little more for thinning)

2 T olive oil

1 t ground flax

salt and nutritional yeast to taste

first get your pasta cooking. i used soba noodles, but i imagine spaghetti, fettucini or linguine would work well too.

next, toast your walnuts. i did this in the oven, but you could do it on the stove as well. for the oven: lay your walnuts on a baking sheet, and bake for about 8 min at 350. for the stove: on medium heat, toast walnuts in a pan for 3-5 min.

in a food processor, toss in the walnuts, washed basil leaves, flax, and sundried tomatoes (if you have time to soak these before hand, they soften a bit. i soaked them in warm water for just 5 minutes because i was ravenous, and it turned out fine). run the motor, and drizzle in the olive oil and water. add in the salt and nutritional yeast (as well as cayenne pepper if you want some kick) and taste. i added an extra tablespoon of hot water to thin out the sauce, but you may like it better thick.

once pasta is cooked, pour in the sauce and mix well. add more nutritional yeast and salt if you want.