This delicious nut-free, lower fat pesto recipe tastes great when paired with pasta and cherry tomatoes, and it’s easier on the wallet to make!
A single trip to Trader Joe’s, and you could be basking in this delicious pesto pasta! It’s quick, easy, allergy-friendly, and a bit easier on the wallet.
In lieu of using three cups of basil for the pesto, I instead cut in some spinach, which not only adds nutrition, but is far less expensive than pesto’s traditional star herb.
The pesto mixed with some pasta and cherry tomatoes just screams ‘summer’, and I wanted to get it on the blog before the conclusion of this year’s hottest season.
Though we didn’t venture much past the front door, our family had a great summer break together, and I hate to see it end!
I took the girls to get their back to school haircuts last week, and they look so grown up!
Each summer comes with its own set of memories, and this will have been the summer of swimming in our new pool, watching Grease and Grease 2, and eating pasta multiple times a week.
A far cry from traveling abroad or even to Disneyland, but we had a great time.
One of our favorite ways to enjoy pasta is with this delicious pesto!
Over the years, I’ve made a couple of different pestos (pesti?), including this broccoli-based version, but today’s recipe is our summer-lovin’ fave.
To keep it even more simple and budget-friendly, I’ve completely eliminated any nuts or seeds and substituted a bit of water for olive oil. These changes obviously make the pesto a bit less luscious and rich, but it’s still terrific over some gluten-free rotini!
Some of my favorite add-ins include: Cherry tomatoes, roasted eggplant, roasted asparagus, chopped chicken breast, and extra parmesan.
Also, speaking of gluten-free pasta, who has a favorite brand? I’ve been trying just about every brand I can get my hands on, making notes to create a post on the pros and cons of each! Hopefully, I’ll have that up in the near future.
For now, use your favorite noodles and get thee to the kitchen to maketh pesto! You won’t be sorry! 🙂
Pesto Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
PESTO:
- 1 large garlic clove
- 2 cups (packed) spinach
- 1 cup (packed) basil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons water
- ½ lemon (about 1-2 tablespoons)
- 3 Tablespoons grated parmesan
OTHER PESTO PASTA INGREDIENTS:
- 12 ounces your favorite gluten-free pasta
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes quartered
Instructions
PESTO:
- Pulse the garlic clove in a food processor until minced.
- Add in the spinach, basil, and salt, and begin processing.
- While it’s going, drizzle in the olive oil, water, and lemon juice.
- Process until combined, but not smooth (it should have a bit of texture).
- Lastly, pulse in the parmesan.
- Stir the pesto with warm, freshly cooked pasta and fresh cherry tomatoes.
Notes
Nutrition
A few recipe steps:
Pack your spinach and basil…
Minced garlic…
Processing pesto…
Your summer sounds like my kind of heaven! Pesto is one of my favs! I can’t wait to try this!!
My favorite brand of gluten free pasta is brown rice pasta by Doves Farm Freee, especially the penne variety. For lasagne it’s Rizopia organic brown rice pasta sheets.
Thanks for sharing, I’ll have to check that out!