Copycat recipe of Marks & Spencer pasta salad with spinach, pesto and pine nuts. Picnic season has arrived and this is the perfect, easy pasta salad to enjoy this summer.
I’m back with a scrumptious, easy-to-make and filling pasta recipe. I’ve already expressed my sincere love for Marks & Spencer food, with this recent recipe for Chocolate Chunk Shortbread (Marks & Spencer Copycat Recipe).
I enjoy recreating some of my favourite foodie finds at home, so up next is a homemade take on a pasta salad I enjoy from Marks & Spencer. I absolutely love anything with pesto, homemade pesto is unbeatable. It’s easy to make, and, once mastered, tastes like pesto made in Italy.
We had an abundance of fresh basil in our garden and decided this would be a good use for homemade pesto!
If I remember correctly, this pasta salad was previously made with orzo pasta, but has since been made with farfelle. I love farfelle – meaning butterfly in Italian.
With the summer season here, we’re enjoying lots of fresh, healthy homemade meals. It’s not summer without endless Greek salads either! If you’re a lover of Greek salads, then this Greek Pasta Salad is another brilliant choice.
This pasta salad is ready in less than half an hour. It’s a delicious recipe, bringing flavours of the Mediterranean to your kitchen. It’s fab for taking to summer picnics, barbecues, or for packed lunches. Feel free to add some chopped cherry tomatoes or even sun-dried tomatoes to the mix.
With lots of textures and tonnes of flavour, this is a summer pasta salad you just have to make!
Pesto Pasta Salad (Marks & Spencer Copycat Recipe)
Copycat recipe of Marks & Spencer pasta salad with spinach, pesto and pine nuts. Picnic season has arrived and this is the perfect, easy pasta salad to enjoy this summer.
Servings 10
Pesto
- 60 g fresh basil leaves roughly two big handfuls
- 1 clove of garlic peeled and left whole
- 50 g pine nuts lightly toasted in a dry pan
- 55 g Parmesan or Grana Padano finely grated
- 5-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil add more if needed to adjust consistency
- salt and black pepper to taste
Pasta
- 500 g farfelle pasta
- roughly two large handfuls of baby spinach roughly chopped/torn into smaller pieces – removing any tough stalks
Serving
- extra grated Parmesan/Grana Padano, pine nuts and basil leaves if desired
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Start by preparing the pesto. Dry toast the pine nuts in a small pan until lightly coloured. In a food processor, pulse together the basil, garlic, toasted pine nuts and Parmesan/Grana Padano until they are minced.
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With the processor on slow speed, add the oil (a tablespoon at a time) in a slow stream. Now season to taste with salt and black pepper. Process for another minute until all the ingredients are combined.
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Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions – mine took 12 minutes. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again. Tip the cooked pasta into a large mixing bowl and stir through the pesto. You might need to add another tablespoon or two of olive oil at this point just to get the correct consistency.
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Now add the chopped spinach, check the seasoning and season with any extra salt and black pepper if needed.
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I like to stir through a couple of tablespoons of extra toasted pine nuts and some more coarsely grated Parmesan/Grana Padano cheese – this is optional. Cover the bowl and chill the pasta salad for at least 4 hours before serving – I leave mine overnight.The pasta salad will keep stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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