Veggie hummus pasta salad

This is a great pasta salad for kids and adults alike. Dish up for the little ones first, then scatter with pul biber chilli flakes and crumbled feta for the grown-ups. You can use shop-bought hummus if you like – just loosen it with a little of the pasta cooking water to make a smooth dressing.

SERVES 4 PREP 20 mins COOK 10 mins EASY

V400g can chickpeas, drained

and liquid reserved

1 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ½ garlic clove

½ lemon, zested and juiced 250g short pasta of your choice 50g baby spinach, roughly chopped 200g cherry tomatoes, halved (we

used a mixture of red and yellow) ¼ cucumber, quartered lengthways

and cut into small triangles

75g pitted olives of your choice,

roughly chopped

1 Boil the kettle. Tip half the chickpeas into a food processor, add roughly half the reserved liquid from the can (the liquid should come to just below the level of the chickpeas in the blender), the tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice and some seasoning. Blitz until you have a smooth, loose hummus. Check for seasoning.

2 Cook the pasta following pack instructions. Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, and rinse the under cold running water for a few seconds until cool. 3 Toss the cooked pasta, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, the rest of the chickpeas and the hummus dressing together in a large bowl until everything is well-coated. Add a splash of the reserved pasta cooking water if the dressing is too thick. Will keep covered and chilled for up to 6 hrs, or in an airtight container in a cool bag for 2 hrs. Add a splash of water to loosen the dressing again before serving.

GOOD TO KNOW vegan • healthy • low cal • fibre

• vit c • 2 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 385 kcals • fat 12g • saturates 2g •

carbs 51g • sugars 3g • fibre 9g • protein 13g • salt 0.7g

V❄