Ella Mills’ lemony pea and broccoli pasta recipe

“I make a variation of this for my kids a lot, using whatever greens I have in the fridge – green beans, asparagus, spinach etc. It’s exceptionally simple yet super-satisfying,” says Ella Mills, the brains behind Deliciously Ella.

Lemony pea and broccoli pasta

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

2 servings of pasta; I like orecchiette in this dish (about 75g per person)
1 small head broccoli (about 300g) cut into small florets
100g frozen peas
Large handful of cashews (about 50g, see note below)
1 vegetable stock cube
1tsp Dijon mustard
1tbsp nutritional yeast
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook according to the instructions on the pack, adding the broccoli and frozen peas for the last three minutes of the cooking time. Cook until the pasta is al dente, the broccoli is tender, and the peas are defrosted, then drain and return to the pan.

2. Meanwhile, put the cashews and stock cube into a bowl with 100 millilitres boiling water, let the stock cube dissolve and the cashews soak for five minutes.

3. Put the mustard, nutritional yeast, the juice of both lemons and half the zest, and half the tin of butter beans into a high-speed blender along with the cashews and their soaking liquid. Blend until you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour the sauce over the drained pasta and veg, adding the last half of the butter beans. Stir to combine and top with a little extra lemon zest.

Note: To make this nut-free, swap the cashews for sunflower seeds.

Deliciously Ella: Healthy Made Simple by Ella Mills is published by Yellow Kite, priced £22. Photography by Clare Winfield. Available now.