Whenever I buy pesto, I end up with half a jar forgotten at the back of the fridge. When my friend Nancy mentioned that she makes quinoa and pesto cakes, I thought they sounded like a perfect Replenish food rescue recipe. Make them as a quick meal when you have leftover pesto or quinoa to use up. You could even experiment with different grains like brown rice, couscous or buckwheat. You might need to adjust the amount of egg or flour so that they hold together nicely.
For more veg power try adding 100g of cooked peas, crushed roughly and mixed through (you might want to use a little less quinoa or a bit more egg). To add more protein, try grating some tofu into the mix. For a fresher taste add some lemon juice or a little zest to the mix, or simply squeeze the juice over the cooked cakes.
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2-3 (8-10 cakes)
Ingredients
You can tweak the quantities to suit the amount of pesto or grains you have leftover.
- 1 egg/1 flax egg*/1 chia seed egg*
- Salt and pepper
- 30-50g gram flour/plain flour
Image by Никита Лазоренко from Pixabay
Method
- Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil for about 8 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic for a few more minutes. Leave to cool a little.
- *If using an egg substitute, mix 1 tbsp ground flax seed or 1 tbsp chia seed with 2 1/2 tbsp water, leave to sit for 5-10 mins before using it.
- Mix the quinoa with the cooked onion and garlic and pesto. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add more pesto if you like.
- Add the egg (or substitute) and flour – try a little flour at a time until you have a good binding consistency but not so much that the cakes will be really heavy.
- Shape the mixture into 8-10 cakes with your hands.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
- Fry the cakes in two to three batches for about 3-4 minutes on each side until nicely browned and a little crispy. Add more olive oil for each batch as needed.
- Serve with a lemon-dressed salad or green beans, tzatziki, or pop a couple in a pitta/ bread with some salad and hummus.
Many thanks to Nancy for sharing this recipe and her photos -they certainly made my mouth water and I’m excited to try out this recipe next time I have pesto.
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