M Savers Summer: Pesto pasta salad with courgette and red pepper
Here’s another M Savers summer recipe from you, devised by Morrisons and put through the critical kitchen blender at Golighly Towers. Well, we like to test everything to the limit around here…
This recipe is very good value for money, coming in at about 32p per portion if you follow the original recipe. If you go for my deluxe version with all the trimmings, a main course portion will set you back about 62p.
Original recipe ingredients (serves 4)
- 300g x M Savers pasta twists
- 1 x M Savers courgette, cut into 1cm thick rounds
- 1 x large or 2 x small M Savers red peppers, cut into chunks
- Dash of olive oil
- 2 x tablespoons of M Savers green pesto
- Juice of ½ M Savers lemon
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water for 12 minutes until tender. Drain and allow to stand.
3. Meanwhile, toss the courgette and pepper in some olive oil and spread over an oven tray. Roast in the oven for 10
minutes until the pepper skin has blistered and the courgette has softened but is still holding its shape.
4. In a large bowl, mix the pasta, cooked veg, pesto and lemon juice. Make sure the pesto is evenly spread through all the
salad.
Tricks and tips from me
This is a great recipe, and is always going to be popular. As the recommended amount of dry pasta for a main course portion is 75g, this recipe will make you enough for four decent-sized adult main courses – or about 8 portions for side salad at a buffet or picnic.
As a cold salad it will keep well in a fridge, and it travels well in an airtight box if you want to take it out for a picnic. If you’re having it cold, keep a close eye on the pasta as it cooks, checking for consistency after 9 minutes – overcooking will leave you with a soggy mess. To stop the cooking process after initial draining, rinse in cold water and then drain again thoroughly.
It would also be a great dish to serve hot, although I reckon it needs a few more veggies. You could double the amount of peppers and courgettes, for example. My fancy version in the picture above is the standard recipe without the lemon juice, plus a sliced and chargrilled economy auberine, 8 chargrilled cherry tomatoes and a few shavings of Gran Padano cheese. I would be more than happy to serve this to foodie friends.
Pesto in a jar always benefits from a little perking up, however expensive the brand might be. I added a tiny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a few torn basil leaves from the garden, and lots of freshly ground pepper to max out the flavour.
Other tasty ways to vary the taste include using roasted chunks of butternut squash, adding a handful of fresh rocket leaves, or mixing in a tiny amount of finely grated hard cheese.
Have you tried any M Savers summer recipes yet? What did you think of them?
