Why you’ll love this pesto pasta bake:
It’s Pasta: If you don’t like pasta you must be a serial killer. Enough said Quick: Whip this up in under an hour Fresh: The pesto adds such a delicious freshness to this recipe that I love
Ingredients:
For this pesto pasta bake, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
Pesto: I like to make a simple homemade pesto with a mix of ingredients like basil, kale, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. However, you can also make a simpler one with basil, parm (if you’re not vegan), and olive oil. If you’re lazy (no judgement) buy a store-bought one. Feta: My fav vegan feta is from Violife Foods. It’s soy free, gluten-free, and absolutely tastes like the real thing (this is coming from a Greek girl afterall). It also melts great in dishes like this, and can be used in everything! Eat it in salads, on top of pizza, on its own, the options are endless. Kale: Sneaking some kale into this delicious recipe to add in those added nutritional benefits of vitamin A, C, K, folate, iron, and the list goes on. Kale is such a superfood!
How do you make a pesto pasta bake?
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiled, generously salt. Cook pasta as per package instructions. Strain and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.
To a large pan, heat olive on medium and cook down onions and garlic till translucent. This may take up to 5-6 minutes. Stir often to avoid burning. To the pan, add the spices and coat everything evenly.
To the pan, add the kale and cook till decreased by half in size. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Place the lid on the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
To the pot of strained pasta, add all the kale + tomato sauce and combine. Transfer to a large casserole dish (13″L x 7.75″W x 2.25″) and set aside.
Into a small bowl, add the feta of choice and pesto and stir till combined.
Top the pasta in the casserole dish with the feta/pesto mixture and evenly distribute the pasta water. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Does it matter what kind of pasta I use? Nope! I would just advise against super tiny noodles or long (spaghetti/fettuccini) noodles. Storage: I wouldn’t necessarily freeze this but you can store it in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days. Do I have to make homemade pesto? Absolutely not. I often have homemade pesto made up in my freezer that I just thaw out when I need it but you can also just buy store-bought. What if I’m not vegan? Simple! Use regular feta instead.
Other vegan pasta recipes you’ll love:
Vegan Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce The Best Vegan “Meat” Sauce Vegan Creamy Cashew Coconut Tomato Sauce Creamy Garlicky Pasta
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