The pesto has lots of symbolic prosperity ingredients: basil for prosperity, almonds for money, leafy greens for bills and sweet corn for coins. It’s super healthy, and the sweet corn, which is deliciously in season, makes it the perfect easy end-of-summer recipe that’s a little more interesting than your average pesto. You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the parmesan altogether or subbing in some nutritional yeast.
Money Penne
1 ear sweet corn
1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup almonds
zest of 1 lemon
2 large leaves kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
packed 1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt & pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Drop in corn and cook (only 2-3 minutes) and remove. In the same pot, cook pasta according to package directions and drain.
When the corn is cool, chop off the kernals and reserve.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine garlic, almonds and lemon zest. Add kale, basil, lemon juice, parmesan, half of the corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well (you may have to scrape the sides a couple of times), then drizzle in olive oil with the food processor running. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Return the drained pasta to the pot and combine with pesto and the rest of the corn. Serve with a little grated parmesan on top.
Plus the name is cute, yes? 😉