Our Easy Pesto Pasta recipe is the one I always revisit when I’m in a hurry, or just not in a mood to make an elaborate meal. It’s one of those dishes that is quick and easy to make and makes you feel good because of the sheer amount of vegetables in it. And let’s face it, eating pasta and cheese is intrinsically satisfying.
Whilst you can make it with any shop-bought pesto, it’s so much better if you have some home-made pesto leftover to use in this dish. We love using our Rustic Walnut & Basil Pesto with Mature Cheese.
When it comes to vegetables for this recipe, you can be adventurous or practical, by using anything that’s in your fridge or freezer. One thing I would never skip though is fresh cherry tomatoes. They’re juicy and pop in your mouth providing extra flavours and fresh sweetness.
This time, I used the colours of the rainbow for my Easy Pesto Pasta. I chopped spring onion, yellow pepper, some garlic and halved the tomatoes. I then got some frozen garden peas out of the freezer and grated some cheese.
Put your pasta in a pan with a pinch of salt and pour boiling water over it. Cook to packet instructions, and whilst the pasta is boiling, cook your vegetables.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add everything you’re using, except for tomatoes. Fry for about 5 minutes until vegetables are starting to soften but still retain a good amount of crunch. Two minutes away from your pasta being done, add cherry tomatoes, and stir everything together. You can add any spices or seasoning you wish, but I find that home-made pesto and cheese provide all the flavours I need.
Drain the pasta and tip in a pan with vegetables. Add a couple of tablespoons of pesto and mix together.
I love serving almost all pasta dishes on a bed of greens. Watercress, rocket, spinach, all work great. We used mixed baby leaves on this occasion. Top your pasta with a mount of cheese and dig in!
Quick & Easy Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 80 g pasta
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 yellow pepper diced
- 1 spring onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 50 g frozen peas
- 2 tbsp pesto ideally, home-made
- 30 g cheddar grated
- 40 g spinach, watercress or rocket, or a mixture to serve
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per packet instructions.
- In the meantime, heat a tbsp of oil in a frying pan. Add all your vegetables, except for cherry tomatoes, and fry for 5-6 minutes until starting to soften but still retail quite a bit of crunch.
- When pasta is about 2 minutes away from being done, add cherry tomatoes to your vegetables and stir.
- Drain your pasta and tip into the pan with vegetables. Add pesto and stir until everything is smothered in pesto.
- Serve on a bed of greens (spinach, watercress, rocket etc.) topped with cheese.
