Basil Pesto Pasta is full of fresh basil and garlic. It’s quick, easy, and has all the homemade healthy goodness you want for yourself and your family. It’s hearty, full of flavor, and guess what? It can be made Vegan and Gluten Free.
Basil Pesto Pasta
Just those three words, basil, pesto, and pasta bring around a sense of delectable comfort. It’s September and still hotter than “all get out” as we say in Texas. For non Texans, that means it’s above 90 and probably closer to 100 degrees and has been for a while. I grow my fresh herbs in pots because the ground here in the Hill Country is so rocky. Gardening for me is much easier in pots. When it gets super hot I can move the pots around to where the herbs aren’t in the midday sun and it’s much easier to water as well. My Basil has lasted through this summer by moving the pots. So I made another fresh batch of pesto.
This pesto freezes really well (which is totally awesome!). So when it’s a weeknight and you’re running out of time but need something healthy and hearty, all you have to do is set it out to thaw. I use small 1 cup containers for freezing so I know exactly how much I need to set out. When freezing, after you’ve put the pesto into containers (don’t fill the container all they way to the top) pour a little olive oil on top of the pesto, then place plastic wrap down into the container on top of the olive oil, then close with the lid. This keeps all the air out and the pesto fresh. Now any time you need fresh pesto you are ready!!!
I follow a Vegan and Gluten free diet, but for those of you that don’t, use your regular favorite Parmesan and whatever you would like for pasta. This recipe is packed full of flavor. Super easy. So colorful. Healthy. Comforting. Delicious. Ok, you get the idea. Enjoy! 🙂
Basil Pesto Pasta
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Prep Time: 30 minutes -
Cook Time: 12 minutes
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Total Time: 42 minutes
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Yield: Serves 4 to 6 -
Category: Pasta, Vegan, Gluten Free -
Method: Food Processor -
Cuisine: Italian
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Basil Pesto Pasta is full of fresh basil and garlic. It’s quick, easy, and has all the homemade healthy goodness you want for yourself and your family. It’s hearty, full of flavor, and guess what? It can be made Vegan and Gluten Free.
Ingredients
- 4.5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1.5 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup grated Parmesan (Vegans use Vegan Parm)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 7 cloves garlic, chopped (use fresh garlic)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 8 to 12 ounces pasta (For Gluten Free use any Gluten Free Pasta. I used an 8 ounce box of Banza Chickpea Pasta)
Instructions
Pesto:
- Place half the basil and all the nuts, garlic, salt and pepper into a food processor and process for a few seconds until basil breaks down. Add rest of basil and repeat. Slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until pesto is pureed. Add Parmesan and process until blended.
- Depending on how much pesto you want with your pasta, (I suggest 1 cup per 6 to 8 ounces of pasta) save and place into mixing bowl. If you’re not going to use the rest in a few days then freeze immediately. Follow freezing (same for storing in refrigerator) instructions in recipe post.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
- Put pasta into mixing bowl with pesto and fold. After serving, sprinkle with additional Parmesan and/or additional pine nuts.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Serves 4 to 6.
- Nutritional Information is for Pesto only since some may use gluten free pasta which has more protein and less carbs than regular pasta. Also, take into consideration that if you are Vegan the saturated fat content will be lower since you aren’t using dairy cheese.
- When looking at Nutritional information please remember that the fat content is high, however, it’s 90% good fat. 🙂
- Please read recipe post regarding how to properly store and freeze leftover pesto.
- Pesto freezes well.
- Pesto recipe makes about 2 to 2.5 cups.
Keywords: Basil, pasta, Vegan, Gluten Free, Italian
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