A fast and easy one-pot dinner of pasta with store bought basil pesto and peas. Ready in under 30 minutes with 4 basic ingredients.
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!
This meal is made up of pasta, store-bought basil pesto, and frozen peas. Here’s how to make it:
- 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.
Never miss a recipe – Subscribe to receive my recipes via email, or follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+.
One-Pot Pasta with Pesto and Peas
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.
Recipe 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.
Hey girl, glad to hear you had a GREAT time in Portland. I have yet to make it to a blogging conference. One day. 🙂 I love your simple recipe here. We just (finally) got a Whole Food here in town this past weekend. Yay and double yay. We’ll be a little poorer, but a lot happier! I’ll check out the parmesan.
Ha! Hooray for Whole Foods! I seriously love that place. 🙂 Enjoy!
Love everything about this post. Literally everything. I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Thanks, Karly! It is a family fave!
One pot won me over, we love pasta with peas and love combinations you given.
Great! I have it almost every day 🙂 Pinned anyway! Pesto, as I understand it, from the store?
This looks so amazing! I need to try this!
This is a great recipe. I am a huge fan of recipes that are quick (under 30 minutes), healthy, and delicious. I can’t wait to try this one out.
I love finding new recipes to use with pesto. This it easy and I like easy. The dish looks really tasty and look forward to trying it.
I’ve always wanted to visit Portland! Glad you had a great time. Definitely going to have to try this recipe – very simple but delicious. Right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!
YUM! This looks so good.
I love anything with pasta and when it comes to one pot pasta dish thats my favorite because less work and less dishes. Thanks for sharing this, will try it out soon.
This pasta looks so good! (I love anything pasta) and I love that it looks simple… that really caught my eye!
I love pasta, it’s so good! This looks really tasty and easy to make!
Molly and Stacie
I’ll have to try making this with gluten free pasta. Love pesto and how easy it is to make it all in one pot!
Oh my gosh this looks so great. And colorful!
I LOVE PESTO! This looks like an awesome recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
kristinacamille.com
This sounds delicious! I haven’t had pesto in forever, now I am really craving it.
This is a perfect quick and easy week night dinner. It is so great for super busy families! Thanks for sharing.
Yum! That pasta looks really good and I love one pot meals!
Yum! I love meals like this where vegetables get incorporated. Plus, I’m a huge fan of pesto so this sounds like a delicious Summer dish to me!
I love pesto pasta. It is easy and super tasty! Whole Foods has a vegan pesto that I adore too. Yum! Your pictures are gorgeous, and I am loving following your blog. Cheers!
Quick and easy meals are every busy person’s dream. This is perfect for dinner after a long day at work.
I could’t agree more. This is a go-to in our house.
YUM! I love quick and easy weeknight dinners and this one looks so fresh and delicious!
This recipe is so yummy and definetly a crowd pleaser and so simple to make. I’m always looking for yummy vegetarian recipes to serve to my family and friends that are vegetarians.