Lightly adapted from Heidi Swanson’s, Ravioli Salad recipe in Super Natural Everyday.
For the cilantro pesto:
1/3 cup / 45g Pepitas, toasted
1 cup / 15g lightly packed cilantro leaves and steams
1/3 cup / 16g grated Parmesan
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the pasta salad:
1/2 / 85g cup pitted black olives
1 lb fresh or frozen tortellini, ravioli etc.
grated Parmesan to top
Start boiling salted water the for the pasta.
Make the cilantro pesto. Using a food processor with the standard (i.e. sabatier) blade pulse garlic, lemon juice, and a splash of oil to grate garlic. Add cilantro, Parmesan, and most of the pepitas; process these as you drizzle in the remaining olive oil. The pesto should become a vibrant green sauce. Taste and mix in salt or additional lemon juice as needed.
Cook pasta per directions. Immediately after draining pasta, mix with spoon of the pesto and toss to coat. Allow to cool for a while and mix in pesto to taste, an additional 1/2 cup is a good guess. Toss with most of the olives.
Before serving sprinkle with remaining olives, pepitas, and Parmesan. Heidi Swanson also garnishes with edible flowers, such as from thyme or chive.
The cilantro pesto portion can be doubled and saved.
The original recipe calls for twice as much oil, which is really too much.