Ingredients

Pesto

• 30 g Basil
• 50 g Parmesan (grated)
• 1 clove Garlic
• 30 g Almonds (whole)
• 60 ml Olive oil

Salad

• 450 g Broccoli ( cut into bite-sized florets & blanched)
• 1.5 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 100 ml Olive oil
• 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 60 g Sun-dried tomatoes
• 400 g Chickpeas (tinned)
• 30 g Almonds (flaked or whole blanched)

Instructions

1. Place all the pesto ingredients into a small blender and whiz up.
2. In a large bowl, mix up the red wine vinegar and salt before adding the blanched broccoli florets.
3. In a small saucepan heat the oil until it begins to bubble then add the minced garlic and cook for a minute until the garlic begins to brown, then remove from heat. Option here to add a pinch of red chilli flakes if you want some extra kick.
4. Pour ¾ of the oil over the broccoli, mix and then cover with a tea towel and leave for 30-40 minutes to infuse.
5. Chop the sun dried tomatoes roughly and drain the chickpeas. If the pesto is looking a little thick you can add the remaining oil in the saucepan to it and whiz it again. If it looks good enough, reserve the oil for the broccoli.
6. In a dry frying pan, toast the almonds until light brown and fragrant.
7. After 30-40 minutes, give the broccoli a stir adding the pesto and oil if not already used, coating it all.
8. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and chickpeas to the bowl, and mix well.
9. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds and serve.

Recipe Notes

• For dairy-free, substitute the parmesan for 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast.
• For nut-free, substitute almonds for sunflower seeds

Ingredients

Roasted Squash

• 1 Squash (small, deseeded, winter, acorn, butternut or pumpkin)
• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tbsp Fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp Paprika
•  Salt & Pepper (to season)

Gnocchi Mix

• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 Red onion (small)
• 1 clove Garlic
• 2 leaves Cavolo nero (or equivalent of kale)
• 400 g Tinned Butterbeans
• 2 tbsp Cashew nut butter
• 6 leaves Sage (roughly chopped)
• 500 ml Chicken stock (or veg stock)
•  Salt & Pepper (to season)
• 60 g Parmesan (or any other hard cheese, plus extra for grating on top)
• 700 g Gnocchi

Instructions

1. Slice up the squash into 3-4 inch chunks, sprinkle on some fennel seeds and paprika, as well as salt, pepper a then drizzle on the olive oil. Pop in a 200 centigrade oven to roast for 45 minutes, shaking half way through. Leave to cool and peel off the skin.
2. Whilst the squash is cooking, finely slice up the onion, crush the garlic and roughly chop the cavolo nero.
3. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan and add the onion and then a minute later add the garlic and cook gently for about 5 minutes until soft. Then add the cavolo nero, butter beans, cashew nut butter, sage leaves and stock. Add in the squash and cook for about 7 minutes or until the cavolo nero is soft.
4. With a slotted spoon, remove about half of the squash, cavolo nero and butterbeans and set aside in a bowl and keep warm.
   Grate the cheese into the remaining liquid and vegetables, season with salt and pepper and then blend up with a stick blender to make a lovely thick sauce.
5. Then it’s time to cook the gnocchi. Pop the gnocchi in a saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute and then drain the water.
6. Whist the gnocchi is cooking in the boiling water, heat a large frying pan with the olive oil to a high heat.
7. Then add the drained gnocchi to the frying pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until crispy and slightly brown.
8. Pop the crispy gnocchi on a plate and pour over the sauce and then sprinkle over the chunks of squash, butterbeans and kale.
9. Grate more cheese on top and serve.

Recipe Notes

• Nut-free: swap cashew butter to tahini sesame paste or sunflower butter or leave out.
• Gluten free: buy gluten-free gnocchi
• Dairy-free/vegan: use olive oil instead of butter, and use 1 heaped tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes instead of the cheese

For more delicious healthy recipes the whole family will love, head over to Nature Doc Clinic now!