Rice Noodles with Vietnamese Pesto
This Vietnamese-inspired dish is a great one-bowl, one-pan option for casual dinner parties. This is a really different kind of pesto that uses peanuts and Asian flavours.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 1 (500g) pack rice noodles
- good handful chopped fresh coriander
- small handful Thai basil
- 2 cloves garlic, halved
- 1/2 teaspoon minced lemon grass
- 1 green chilli, seeded and minced
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 4 tablespoons chopped, unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
- 7 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Prep:30min ›
Cook:5min ›
Ready in:35min
- Soak rice noodles in a large bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain the noodles, and set them aside.
- Make the pesto: In a blender or food processor combine the chopped coriander, basil, garlic, lemon grass, chillies, fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of the peanuts. Process just until the herbs and peanuts are coarsely chopped. While the machine is running, add the oil in a thin stream. Then add the remaining peanuts and run the machine in short spurts until the peanuts are coarsely chopped.
- Place soaked rice noodles into a large frying pan with 125ml (5 fl oz) water over medium high heat. Stir until most of the water has been absorbed and the noodles are tender.
- Add almost all of the pesto, and stir well, adding a few tablespoons of water if the pesto is clumping.
- Taste the noodles and add more pesto, lime juice, fish sauce, salt or pepper if you like. Garnish the noodles with the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanuts, and serve right away.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(18)
Reviews in English (10)
Altered ingredient amounts. I eat a lot of Vietnamese and this has all the right flavours. I did make extra sauce to coat a bit more, but I always order extra sauce for everything!! - 24 Jul 2008
I don't know...this recipe would need serious changes if I made it again. Kind of bland. - 24 Jul 2008
I was disappointed with the flavour of the pesto. I was hoping for a really asian taste, but it just tasted like peanuty pesto to me. The noodles ended up kind of mushy, too. If you do make this be careful not to add too much water to the pan when you cook them on the hob. I love vietnamese noodles in restaurants, but this didn't even come close for me. - 24 Jul 2008