Here is a recipe I created by accident for Passover, but one in which I will now indulge in all year round. There’s nothing “pesachdik” about it. I just happened to discover this crazy can of hearts of palm “pasta” at Shalom’s Kosher while I was doing my Pesach shopping.
Full disclosure: It tastes like hearts of palm and not pasta. That’s because it is hearts of palm – just in the shape of spaghetti noodles.
Someone recently asked me how I use hearts of palm and whether they could cook it. I told them I usually used it in my “caterer’s salad” (updated recipe coming up next…) and was quite sure no one actually “cooked” it. Well, I was wrong!
I still remember the first time I saw hearts of palm on a fancy menu in college. That was definitely before you could simply buy a can of it in the store. I was gobsmacked that there was a vegetable out there that I hadn’t even heard of, much less tasted.
Anyway, that was sort of in the last century, so umm… let’s talk about what you can do THIS century!
There are a few brands out there of Hearts of Palm spaghetti (and even lasagna!). The Gefen brand is the only one that I know is definitely kosher-certified.
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Hearts of Palm Pesto Pasta
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Want to eat a huge bowl of spaghetti and veggies, with no guilt, stomachache or sleepiness afterwards? Here you go! Hearts of Palm spaghetti will give you your spaghetti slurping pleasure, while really just being a big bowl of vegetables. This recipe can require very minimal fresh ingredients, making it a great pantry/freezer staple recipe.
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cubes Dorot frozen basil (or 1/4 cup chopped fresh)
4 cubes Dorot frozen parsley (or 1/4 cup chopped fresh)
3 cubes Dorot frozen garlic or 3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped (substitute canned if needed)
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 can Gefen Hearts of Palm Spaghetti
1/2 cup broccoli, cooked and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup pasta sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add garlic and herbs and saute until soft. You can also add your red peppers here if you like them very cooked. I don’t so I add them after the mushrooms. Add mushrooms and cook until they shrink considerably and have released their liquid (and the liquid has cooked off), about 5 minutes. Add water at any time if your ingredients start to stick to the pan.
Add red peppers and broccoli and saute until they’re very mixed with the pesto you’ve created. Gently mix in the hearts of palm spaghetti and the pasta sauce. Taste for salt and pepper and add those.
Divide into two servings and garnish with toasted pine nuts.
Notes
This recipe can require very little in the way of fresh ingredients and be quite the convenient pantry pot of spaghetti. You can also saute onion (or a frozen Dorot sauteed onion cube), along with the garlic.
Most stores I visit carry the Dorot frozen herb cubes, including Trader Joe’s. When in doubt, kosher stores always carry them.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Meal
- Method: Cooktop
- Cuisine: American/Italian