Roasted chestnut & herb pesto pasta with mushrooms

Roasted chestnut & herb pesto pasta with mushrooms

This seasonal pesto is a good way of using up any herbs that are knocking around the kitchen

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Put the chestnuts in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Throw in the herbs, Parmesan and garlic, then pulse again until chopped (not too finely). Pour in the rapeseed oil, mix together and season to taste.
  2. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, according to pack instructions. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms with some seasoning for 6-8 mins until tender and starting to brown. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, return to the pan, then stir through the pesto and the mushrooms. Serve with some extra Parmesan on top, if you like.
Try

Roasting fresh chestnuts

For this recipe, either buy a pack of vacuum-packed ready-cooked chestnuts, or roast them yourself. Cut a small cross in each whole chestnut and roast at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 30 mins. Remove and allow to cool slightly before crushing with the flat side of a knife.

PER SERVING

582 kcalories, protein 14g, carbohydrate 70g, fat 29 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 4g, sugar 3g, salt 0.2 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2011.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

  • 16 March 2011

    Janneke rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 19 March 2011

    MdC BC rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    We couldn't find chestnuts of any kind in the shop, so we used a mix of dry nuts instead, and still worked really nicely with the herbal pesto. A bit too oily, but we still enjoyed it.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 28 March 2011

    Steffie commented on this recipe

    Parmesan in most shops is not vegetarian.... they use rennet to make it. (from a calf stomach) But there is a veggie alternative available in some organic shops like Montello organic/veggie Parmesan.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 02 November 2011

    sallysparrow commented on this recipe

    one of my all time favourite veggie recipes - so quick and easy and sooo tasty

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 28 December 2011

    CSiouxsieC rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is an absolute favourite of mine - the sweetness of the chestnuts works so well with the fresh herbs. For added dimension I include some lemon zest and juice at the end - delicious!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 01 May 2012

    danielucio rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I don't know if I did something wrong, but I just did not like the recipe, very dry and just...not my thing. I added some mushroom sauce though which made it a bit better, will not make it again though.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 18 July 2012

    Daveebs commented on this recipe

    I would like to report a problem with this recipe. It's a little understood fact that Permesan is emphatically NOT a vegetarian product! The same applies to Pesto, due to the cheese used. Parmesan is made with animal rennet, as is Percerion cheese in Pesto. I think it would be best if all your vegetarian recipes are reviewed given this serious issue.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 20 August 2012

    Peejay commented on this recipe

    I also couldn't get any chestnuts so made the pesto with pine nuts instead and added a few walnut halves when stirring in the pesto and mushrooms to give a bit of crunch.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 28 September 2012

    Chanonica commented on this recipe

    I don't understand why the parmesan is listed in this receipe... two previous posters have already highlighted why it is not suitable here. Please remove the ingredient from the list.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 12 October 2012

    Grace07 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I really struggled to find some roasted chestnuts so instead I used: Pickled Walnuts in malt vinegar as a subsititute and it was amazing, I will definitley be making it again with the pickled walnuts. I didn't have a problem with dryness - it was a birlliant recipe

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 13 October 2012

    Ste Ríkharðsson commented on this recipe

    It is not "Parmesan" per se which is not vegetarian it is specific Parmesan cheeses such as "Parmigiano Reggiano" and "Pecorino Romano". By EU law, to bear these full names, they must contain animal rennet. Other types of "Parmesan" such as "Twineham Grange", "Sussex Charmer" and "Montello" are all approved by the Vegetarian Society. In order to stop inexperienced vegetarians from accidentally eating a non-vegetarian product, please correct this recipe to "vegetarian Parmesan". Anyone other commenter who is concerned, please write an email to the BBC GoodFood explaining the error.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 24 November 2012

    lseastwood rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Not unpleasant, but it was disappointed with this recipe and wouldn't make it again - quite a bit of faff and the end result was quite a bland sauce that lacked something, which was surprising as I love all the component ingredients.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 20 January 2013

    JenS rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious veggie simple supper

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 01 February 2013

    Alenab rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My husband and I absolutely loved it!easy to make and tastes delicious. I did managed to get hold of cooked tesco extra special chestnuts so did not have to alter the recipe. I did not mind pasta being slightly oily either as rapseed oil is very good for you ! A winner overall.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 02 April 2013

    eviem rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a vegetarian recipe. Those who believe this is not true should look up the definition for a vegetarian. It means they don't eat meat or fish. Pesketarians eat fish, but not meat. I think some of you are thinking of vegans. Vegans don't eat meat, but also don't eat animal products ie. milk, eggs, cheese, cream, butter, honey. No animal fats or animal derived ingredients (like gelatin) either.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 100g cooked chestnuts
  • handful each basil, parsley and mint , leaves only
  • 50g Parmesan , grated, plus extra to serve (optional)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 150ml rapeseed oil
  • 500g dried pasta
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g pack chestnut mushrooms , quartered
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

PER SERVING

582 kcalories, protein 14g, carbohydrate 70g, fat 29 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 4g, sugar 3g, salt 0.2 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close