What are good vegetables to put in pasta with pesto?

Vegetables, pasta, and pesto are a great match. You can include asparagus, broccoli, snow peas, artichokes, bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and sundried tomatoes.

Is pesto made from basil or parsley?

Traditional Italian pesto is made with basil. However, you can make pesto variations with other herbs, such as parsley (like in this recipe), cilantro, and mint. Similarly, you can use nuts other than pine nuts.

What goes well with artichokes?

Artichokes pair well with lemon, garlic, pasta, grains, chicken, shrimp, cheese, pizza, bell peppers, tomatoes, and herbs like parsley, basil, and oregano.

Artichoke Pesto Pasta

Name: Artichoke Pesto Pasta
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 pound spaghetti or other pasta; kosher salt; 2 cups packed parsley leaves; 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts; 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas; 1 lemon; 1/3 cup walnuts; 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese; 1 clove garlic; 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

Description

This artichoke pesto pasta recipe is a quick and fresh spring meal. Simply combine canned artichoke hearts and chickpeas with a parsley and walnut pesto and your favorite pasta for a speedy weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 pound spaghetti or other pasta
kosher salt
2 cups packed parsley leaves
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
1 lemon
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

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Instructions

Cook the pasta. Set a pot of water to boil on the stove. When boiling, season well with several large pinches of salt. Then add your pasta and cook until al dente. When done, drain but reserve at least 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside.
Prep the ingredients. Remove the stems from the parsley. Drain and rinse the artichokes, then give them a rough chop. Drain the chickpeas. Zest and juice the lemon.
Make the pesto. Put the walnuts in a large pan and lightly toast over low heat for 3-5 minutes until fragrant. Add them to your food processor with the parsley, parmesan, and garlic. Run the processor and slowly stream in the 1/2 cup of olive oil. Continue processing until smooth.
Assemble the pasta. In the now empty pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the artichoke hearts and chickpeas to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes just to warm up. When hot, toss the pasta, pesto, lemon juice, and zest. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce and incorporate the artichoke and chickpeas. Add the reserved pasta water, as desired, to thin the pesto and create a sauce-like consistency.
Serve. Divide the pasta into plates and top with additional cheese, parsley, and nuts, if you like.

Notes

Rinse the artichokes before chopping to remove any salt that may have been added.

If you don't have two cups of parsley leaves, feel free to include some stems. You'll be pureeing them into pesto anyway.

To save some time, you can prep the pesto a couple of days in advance.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Category: Pasta
Method: Stove top
Cuisine: Italian