Using your noodle

 Udon noodles with mussels  and a ginger mint basil and coriander pesto

There´s a vegan in me kitchen what am I gonna do? Believe it or not I have never cooked a vegan meal before, but a few weeks ago the pressure was on when we had a vegan guest in the house and he and his partner requested dinner "Can he not have an egg or  a slice of wafer thin cheese"I said to the thespian.No was the affirmative response.Well donning my thinking head, noodles came to the fore. I had just made a batch of Ginger mint basil and coriander pesto which I usually serve as a dressing for fish salads, octopus,salmon or prawns.Well that would be no use to a vegan.Take the fish out of the equation though and I was on course for a delicious vegan dinner.Surprised? I think you will be. I have to say how surprised I was that the simple ingredients that I chose could create such spectacular flavour. I opted for Udon noodles, then tossed them in my pesto
 and then added diced cucumber, finely sliced radish,spring onion,finely julienned chilli, shallot and finished with a variation on a Thai noodle theme by replacing peanuts with a dusting of chopped pistachios.The final plate, a myriad of textures and flavours ....a little spicy, a little sweet, a little salty, very fresh and noodly al dente.

 Udon noodles with ginger mint basil and coriander pesto (vegan)

Fortuitously, we liked the dish so much it got me thinking of how else I could apply my signature pesto in a new way.I had never served it warm and thought back to a tapas dish of mussels served in a lemon cream sauce that Fabio serves at Puerta Ancha in Ayamonte.The citrus of the lime in my pesto would pair well with mussels tossed in a pesto cream sauce.I flexed my mussels and like Popeye and spinach without Olive Oil I had served up an innovative and spectacular plate.