![]() ![]() It starts with lots of garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes, then a cup or so of sweet, juicy tomatoes.I have news! Cookie and I are finally busting out of this dingy rent house and moving to a new place. Penne would also be great), you’ll make the chickpea sauce. Baked Shells with Creamy Cauliflower SauceĪfter cooking your desired pasta shape (Note: I shot these photos over the course of a couple days and used two different pasta shapes- the rotini worked better than the short, wide pasta in the final photo.Whole-Wheat Pasta with Toasted Walnuts, Greens, and Ricotta.Lemony Pasta with Fried Zucchini and Basil.Use 2 tablespoons of olive oil instead of butter.Swap out the Parmesan cheese for 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast.Most store-bought pestos are not vegan, so look for one that is, or whip up your own.How to make this Chickpea Pesto Pasta recipe vegan Add extra red wine vinegar to taste, pasta salad should be a little tangier than regular pastaĬhickpeas are essential to this recipe because mashing half of them contributes to the creamy sauce, but if you want to double-up on protein I’d suggest chopped or shredded chicken breast, grilled shrimp, or any mild-flavored protein that won’t overwhelm the bold flavor of the pesto.I always prefer pasta salad to be room temperature, not ice cold, so leave it out of the fridge for an hour or two before enjoying.If you leave out the Parmesan cheese, this can be a vegan pesto pasta salad.Olive oil holds up better in a cold or room temperature pasta. Continue on with the recipe, but stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil at the end instead of butter.Make the tomato-garlic chickpea sauce as directed, but do not smash the chickpeas.Cook the pasta completely according to package directions.To turn this into a pesto pasta salad for your next backyard barbecue or just a hot summer night at home, you’ll need to make a few adjustments to the recipe: Only a few tablespoons of pesto are needed to lend an herbaceous punch to the recipe. I didn’t want the pasta to be drowning in green stuff, I wanted it to have a nice balance of creamy chickpeas, punchy pesto, sweet cherry tomatoes stewed in plenty of garlic, and salty Parmesan cheese. Quick note: This pesto pasta uses jarred pesto for a bit of flair, not for the full flavor. No matter what you make it for, this recipe yields wonderful leftovers that you’ll be ecstatic to find in the fridge all week, during future moments of hunger-induced panic. Pasta with chickpeas makes a comforting pandemic work-week lunch, and it would also be delicious for a fast weeknight dinner or as a summery pasta salad to bring to a cookout - in the hopes that normal life resumes soon. A jar of pesto, a couple splashes of olive oil, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a dollop of butter were the only other provisions I needed to make a satisfying, hearty, vegetarian (and vegan-friendly!) recipe. I kept half of the chickpeas whole, then smashed the other half with the back of a spoon to create a kind of creamy, chickpea pasta sauce. I still marvel at the convenience of this quick, inexpensive, and healthy protein. My next thought landed on chickpeas, something I always have in the pantry that usually comes with an easy-open flip top. Luckily, my ravenous brain went straight to pasta- short pasta, like penne or rotini, that I could easily stab with a fork and shovel into my mouth. It was a work (from home) day, I didn’t have much time, I had very few ingredients in the pantry, and I was hungry enough to make some questionable eating decisions. This Chickpea Pesto Pasta recipe happened on a whim. ![]()
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