Warm Caprese Pesto Pasta

This super simple yet crazy delicious Caprese Pesto Pasta is as good as it gets. The lemony pesto is a creamy blender pesto that is so easy to make. Pour that over pasta and toss with some sauteed cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and dinner is served. It's the perfect Meatless Monday vegetarian supper recipe.

All the stars have aligned, my friends! I am finally sharing my all-time favorite quick and easy pasta recipe. This should have happened years ago. I'm sorry for holding out on you.

This is one of those meals that hardly registers as a recipe in our house. It's usually my handsome man who whips up the pesto while I put a pot of water on to boil and quickly sear the tomatoes. It's what we eat when we're HUNGRY and need to eat right freaking now.

It's also a meal we swoon over every time we eat it. Seriously, it's so delicious.

Around here we simply call it pesto. For the sake of fancying things up a little, today I'm calling it Warm Caprese Pesto Pasta.

How to make this Warm Caprese Pesto Pasta! {1 min}

When Chickapea Pasta reached out to team up again on another recipe post, I knew right away this Caprese Pesto Pasta was what I wanted to make. (BTW the last recipe I made with their delish gluten-free pasta was this Deliciously Rich Lentil Bolognese.)

Have you tried Chickapea yet? It's my absolute fav gluten-free pasta. It holds its shape well when cooked and the texture is perfect. It reminds me of whole wheat pasta, which I love.

It's made with lentil and chickpeas (that's it!) so it's super healthy for you. Pairing it with a vegetarian or vegan sauce is perfect as Chickapea Pasta is packed full of protein.

We often eat their Penne and Spirals, but for this Caprese Pesto Pasta, I love to use their Shells. All the creamy pesto hides inside in the shells so you get lots of pesto. The more pesto the better!

Why make blender pesto

The pesto here is all my handsome man's. I can't take credit for it. Before we met, I made pesto quite differently. It was roughly chopped and had lots of texture to it. It was nothing like the brightly colored creamy pesto you see here.

Fast forward a few years and this is the only pesto recipe I now make. It's simply too delicious to ever go back to my old recipe. It's also ridiculously easy to make. Here's how you do it:

→ Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

That's it! I'm totally serious. One step and done.

What makes this pesto recipe unique

• There's parsley in here. And no, that's not a typo. It helps make the pesto the vibrant green color you see. You can leave it out, but it won't be quite as pretty.
• We don't use pine nuts. Or at least not always. Let's be honest, pine nuts are ridic expensive. While I love them, I can't always bring myself to use them. We've tried many different combinations of nuts and they all work great. We love using half almonds and half walnuts the best.
• We toast the nuts. Always. It adds so much more flavor to the pesto.
• There's water in this recipe. This is because the pesto needs to blend freely to get totally smooth and become pourable. You could add more oil, but honestly, water works just as well.

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Easy Vegetarian Pasta Recipes:

• Deliciously Rich Lentil Bolognese
• Sage Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Kale and Buttered Pecans
• Fresh Summer Spaghetti
• One Pot Vegan Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
• Thai Noodle Salad with Feta Peanut Dressing
• Date Night Wonton Ravioli with Beets and Goat Cheese

Warm Caprese Pesto Pasta

• Author: Kristen Stevens
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: Italian

★★★★★

5 from 9 reviews

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Description

This super simple yet crazy delicious Caprese Pesto Pasta is as good as it gets. The lemony pesto is a creamy blender pesto that is so easy to make. Pour that over pasta and toss with some sauteed cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and dinner is served. It's the perfect Meatless Monday vegetarian supper recipe.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Caprese Pasta

• 2 boxes Chickapea Pasta shells
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 pints (around 30) cherry tomatoes
• 1 mozzarella ball, torn into pieces (See notes)
• Grated parmesan cheese, to garnish

Lemony Pesto

• 1 cup basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup toasted nuts (see notes)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (See notes)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• Juice of 2 lemon

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Instructions

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. When it comes to a boil, add the Chickapea Pasta shells, stirring as you pour them into the pot. Cook the pasta for 7-9 minutes then drain and set aside.
2. While the water is heating, prepare the pesto. Place all the pesto ingredients into your blender and blend on high until smooth.
3. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and quickly toss to coat them in the oil Let them cook undisturbed for 2 minutes then shake the pan and cook them for 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat.
4. Add the cooked pasta, the pesto, and the mozzarella to the pan and stir together. Serve the Warm Caprese Pesto Pasta topped with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

While pine nuts are classic in pesto, other nuts work great. We like a combination of almonds and walnuts the best. Pecans and cashews work great, too. To toast the nuts, place them on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes, or until they are fragrant.

To easily make this a vegan recipe, skip the mozzarella use a tablespoon of nutritional yeast instead of the parmesan in the pesto.