Quick & Easy Vegan Pesto Pasta

4.67 from 12 votes

Welcome spring with this vegan pesto pasta recipe. This nut-free and oil-free pesto is tossed with whole-grain pasta and vibrant vegetables that taste so fresh and delicious. Eat the rainbow!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Entrees

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 295kcal

Author: Kathy Carmichael

Ingredients

Pasta:

8 ounces pasta of choice gluten-free works as well

Oil-Free Pesto:

1 ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves. The more the merrier.
1 garlic clove minced
15 ounces navy/cannellini beans 1.5 cups; rinsed and drained
¼ cup water
¼ cup nutritional yeast
The juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon sea salt

Sautéed or Roasted Vegetables:

½ large white onion 1 cup sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 broccoli crown cut into florets
3 carrots sliced thin
8 ounces mushrooms of choice sliced
1 zucchini slice into thin coins

Other Ingredients:

Basil for garnish
Vegan parmesan cheese

Instructions

Pasta:

Cook pasta according to box/bag directions.
Drain and rinse noodles.
Return to the pan.

Sauteed/or Roasted Vegetables:

In a medium-sized skillet, saute garlic, onion, and mushrooms.
Add vegetable broth to prevent vegetables from sticking.
Next, add the broccoli and carrots, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
Then, add zucchini last and only cook for 5 minutes so as not to overcook the zucchini.

Oil-Free/Nut-Free Pesto:

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender.
Blend until smooth.
Pour the pesto over the hot pasta.
Then, serve in bowls and add sauteed vegetables.
Add basil as a garnish.
Sprinkle with vegan
parmesan (optional)

Notes

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with vegan lasagna, potato gnocchi, or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with vegetables to make them more flavorful.

Pesto is designed to be a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of the ingredients, so heating up your pesto destroys all that hard work. This is not to say pesto must be eaten cold.

For additional cheesy flavor, add vegan parmesan cheese.

Using a quality high-speed blender helps to make smooth pesto from beans.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Pesto freezes well. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags in the freezer for up to 6 months. Pesto may also be frozen in small Souper Cubes or plastic containers for 9-12 months.

Nutrition