Red Lentil Pasta Spinach Salad with Carrot Top Pesto

For the pasta, bring salted water to the boil in a large casserole. Cook the red lentil pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Drain in a colander, rinse, and leave to drain.

Remove the green carrot tops from the carrot bunches, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Finely grate the Parmesan cheese. Roast the walnuts without fat in a pan until fragrant, then chop coarsely with a knife.

Place the carrot tops with 60 g grated cheese, 3 tbsp chopped walnuts, salt and pepper in a blitz chopper or blender jug and add the finely chopped garlic. Pour in the olive oil and blend everything finely in the blitz chopper or with a hand blender. Season the pesto again with salt and pepper.

For the spinach, bring the water to the boil. Sort the spinach leaves, wash and place in a large sieve. Briefly blanch the spinach with boiling water. Then rinse and drain, loosen with a fork, season with lemon juice and leave to cool until lukewarm.

Mix the slightly cooled spinach with the pasta and three quarters of the carrot green pesto (amount of pesto according to taste) and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle the pasta and spinach salad with the remaining walnut kernels and cheese.

Cook’s Tip: This pasta is also delicious served warm. Be generous with the fresh spinach leaves, as their volume shrinks when cooked.