Name: Pesto Pasta Salad
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 pound pasta (I prefer short pasta like small/medium shells); 1 pound frozen peas; 6 ounce container basil pesto; parmesan cheese (salt and pepper, to taste)

Pesto Pasta Salad – A fast and easy one-pot dinner of pasta with store bought basil pesto and peas. Serve warm or cold. Ready in 30 minutes!

Hello there! How was your weekend? I was lucky enough to spend my weekend ~~eating my way through~~ visiting Portland. I attended my first food bloggers conference. It was inspiring, fun, and delicious. I stepped out of my comfort zone (card carrying introvert here), and I’m so glad I did. I felt honored to be in the same room with people whose work I’ve admired for years.

Now I’m back home and looking towards the week ahead. This will definitely be a week that I rely on fast and easy meals (hello, cereal for dinner). I’m playing catch-up after being out of town, plus, my husband is wrapping up tax season, which is a super busy time at work for him. It will just be the kids and I for dinner this week, and that means easy, easy, easy! Right, mamas?

This here is a fast and easy meal made in one pot, in under 30 minutes, using only 4 ingredients. This is an ideal meal for nights when you want something hearty and comforting with minimal dishes and no prep!

Pesto Pasta Salad

Cook pasta in boiling water. During the last 5 minutes of cooking time, add a bag of frozen peas to the cooking water.
Drain
Return pasta and peas to the pot and stir in pesto and parmesan cheese

That’s it! Easy peasy! Get it pea-sy?! Ha! Ok, I’ll stop. 😉

Another fantastic thing about this recipe is how adaptable it is. You can make it with just the 4 basic ingredients, or you can add other veggies or meat. I occasionally add asparagus, broccoli, or cherry tomatoes. I also serve it topped with sliced sausage or rotisserie chicken. You can serve this dish hot or cold. Leftovers make for a great chilled pasta salad.

Lastly, I’d like to quickly address the parmesan cheese that you see below. I am a huge fan of Whole Foods, and one of my favorite items is their parmesan cheese. My family goes through nearly a tub a week (and by “my family” I’m mostly referring to myself). Whole Foods is not paying me say this, nor is this post sponsored by them. I just really, really love this stuff and I want you to go get some, or come over to my place and we’ll eat pasta with pesto and loads of parm.

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Recipe

Pesto Pasta Salad

A fast and easy one-pot dinner of pasta with store bought basil pesto and peas. Serve warm or cold. Ready in 30 minutes!

5 from 11 votes

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Course: main, Main dish

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 25

Servings:

Calories: 451kcal

Author: Allison Mattina

Ingredients

▢ 1 pound pasta, I prefer short pasta like small/medium shells
▢ 1 pound frozen peas
▢ 6 ounce container basil pesto
▢ parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil Add salt and the pasta. Boil accordingly to pasta package instructions. During the last 4-5 minutes of cooking time add the peas.
Drain and return to the pot. Stir in pesto. Add parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste.

Notes

-This pasta can be served warm or chiilled. If serving chilled, I like to add raw cherry tomatoes.
- You can also add asparagus or frozen chopped broccoli to this dish. I usually add them to the boiling pasta water during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
- If desired, the pasta can be topped with cooked sausage or rotisserie chicken.