Description
Green Pesto Pasta Casserole with chickpea noodles, homemade pesto sauce, and green veggies baked to perfection. The best workweek dinner!
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 8-oz. package of chickpea pasta
- 3 cups spinach
- 1 cup basil, tightly packed
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- ¼ tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 2 TBSP avocado oil
- 2 to 4 TBSP filtered water
- 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 cups frozen broccoli
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a large casserole dish and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stovetop.
- When the water is boiling, add in the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and rinse the pasta and then return it to the pot.
- Add the spinach, cashews, basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, avocado oil, and nutritional yeast in a food processor or high speed blender. Process everything until it’s smooth and creamy, pausing to scrape down the sides as needed. Add the pesto to the same pot with the pasta.
- Add ½ cup water to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Add in the frozen pea and broccoli and return to a boil. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until the veggies are vibrant green and just fork tender. Drain well, then add to the pot with the pasta and pesto.
- Stir well to combine the pasta, pesto, and vegetables in the pot.
- Transfer the mixed pesto pasta to the casserole dish and sprinkle with more nutritional yeast. Bake the pasta casserole for 10 to 20 minutes, until the pasta starts to brown and get slightly crunchy and the dish is steaming and hot.
- Enjoy immediately! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Party in My Plants!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner, Casserole
- Method: Blender, Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Refined-Sugar-Free