Pesto Pasta (with selfmade pesto!)

This pesto pasta is made with salty parmesan, homemade pesto, and delicious sautéd vegetables making for such a flavorful and easy pesto pasta dish you can enjoy any night of the week.

Now that you know how to make homemade pesto we thought we’d teach you how to make this super flavorful pesto pasta recipe. There is nothing better than a delicious bowl of pesto pasta tossed with tasty sautéd vegetables 😀

Ingredients You Need for Pesto Pasta

• Fresh basil: traditional pesto is made with fresh basil and we stuck to tradition for this pesto! Get the freshest basil you can find! No, you can not used dried basil.
• Parmesan: do not skip the parmesan in this pesto! It adds the salty and nuttiness that makes the pesto so delicious.
• Fresh lemon juice: brighten up your vegan pesto with fresh lemon juice.
• Garlic cloves: you can’t have any pesto (vegan or not) without garlic.
• Pine nuts: to thicken up your pesto we recommend sticking to the traditional pine nut. It adds the best nutty flavor to every pesto.
• Olive oil: you can use olive oil to thin out your pesto and add amazing flavor!
• Pappardelle pasta: we chose a simple pappardelle pasta for this dish!
• Bella mushrooms + cherry tomatoes: these delicious pesto does most the flavor work in this pasta dish, but the mushrooms and tomatoes add earthiness and a good serving of vegetables.
• Salt: we suggest waiting to add salt to this pasta until the end because the pesto and parmesan are both salty and delicious.

Tools You Need for Pesto Pasta

Top Tips for Pesto Pasta

Make it a creamy pasta: If you want to make this pesto pasta creamy, add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream to the pan when you add the pesto. Combine all the ingredients together and toss with the pasta.

Make it vegan: You can make this pesto pasta vegan by replacing the pesto with vegan pesto and vegan parmesan. The saltiness and deliciousness are still there.

Add a meat protein: our chicken pesto pasta recipe is a perfect alternative to this vegetarian version.

Pasta recommendations: We used pappardelle pasta for this pesto pasta, but you can use any pasta you’d like. Any of the following would be delish:

• rigatoni
• penne
• orecchiette
• fusilli

Easy Substitutions

The sky is the limit when it comes to adding other ingredients to this pasta. You can mix up the vegetables, add some spice, or anything else you’re craving. Here are some ideas:

• white onion
• bell pepper
• shallot
• fresh mint
• fresh arugula
• red pepper flakes

Storage

Store your pesto pasta in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat the pasta over low heat, adding a bit of olive oil if needed to thin out the pesto sauce.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this pasta with one of our delicious salad recipes:

• Spring Mix Salad: This spring mix salad is made with a combination of fruit, vegetables, cheese, and sesame roasted cashews. It is topped with a simple dressing and you can serve it with your favorite lunch or dinner recipes.
• Butter Lettuce Salad: This butter lettuce salad has a combination of vegetables, fruit, nuts, cheese, and is drizzled with a simple lemon vinaigrette. Everything on a bed of tender butter lettuce makes a perfect and delicious salad.
• The Best Arugula Salad: This is a simple and delicious arugula salad recipe. It is made with arugula, dried fruit, veggies, and fruit. It is the perfect side dish to any meal!