This Pistachio Pesto Pasta is made with a few simple vegan ingredients and comes together in under 30 minutes for a delicious, creamy, and bright dinner!
We have been on many journeys to grow herbs at home. We have a small yard but we don’t have a garden and don’t get the right sunlight for anything to do well. This winter we tried to create our own indoor herb garden with a grow light. It failed miserably. For the last few months we have been able to keep a small basil and small rosemary bush alive on pots on our front porch. We bring them in on cold nights and tuck them in all nice and cozy on our kitchen table. Is it ideal? No but it seems to be working well so far.
Having herbs growing at my house makes me feel like I have my stuff together. Like I can walk out onto my patio and grab a handful of basil leaves and toss them in my pasta. Incredible.
Now that I have a seemingly endless supply of basil, I’ve made a lot of pestos. One of my best friends had a pistachio pesto at a recent dinner and raved to me about it so I decided to make my own. The pistachios add a little sweet earthiness to the pesto and make it perfectly light green.
Making Pistachio Pesto Pasta:
This recipe is so simple and quick. The basil, pistachios, lemon juice, lemon zest, vegan feta, garlic, and olive oil are combined in the food processor. The ingredients are blended into a thick paste. I added about 2 tablespoons of water to loosen the sauce slightly but the sauce should stay thick like a paste.
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Make sure to reserve about 1 cup of starchy pasta water. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Add in the pesto paste and drizzle in a small amount of pasta water at a time until a creamy sauce coated pasta is achieved. I used about ¾ cup of pasta water to reach my desired consistency.
Serve pasta topped with more vegan feta, flaky sea salt, fresh basil, and lemon zest. Enjoy!
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Pistachio Pesto Pasta
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Pistachio Pesto Pasta is made with a few simple vegan ingredients and comes together in under 30 minutes for a delicious, creamy, and bright dinner!
Ingredients
Pesto
- 3/4 cup loosely packed basil
- 1 cup roasted, no salt shelled pistachios
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1/2 cup vegan feta
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2–3 tablespoons water
Pasta
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 16 oz pasta (I used spaghetti)
Serving
- Fresh basil
- Lemon zest
- Vegan feta
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients, except the water, in the bowl of a food processor and blend on high until a thick paste is formed. Use 2-3 tablespoons of water to loosen up the paste a bit if needed.
- Boil salted water and cook pasta according to package instructions, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
- Drain pasta and combine pasta and pesto in a large bowl. Drizzle in a small amount of pasta water at a time and toss together until the creamy sauce coats the pasta completely with no clumps.
- Serve topped with fresh basil, lemon zest, vegan feta, and lemon zest.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Main, pasta
Keywords: pesto, pesto pasta, pistachio pesto, pistachio pesto pasta, vegan pasta
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