Arugula Pesto Pasta

I love pesto, it’s the best-o. It even brings out the cheesy rhymes in me, or maybe that is from spending too much time with people under the age of 7. Either way, this arugula pesto pastas is a must-try. It’s so flavorful and just makes my tastebuds sing. At our house, we eat A LOT of pesto sauce in the summer. It is so quick and easy, no cooking even involved. I especially like this pesto recipe because the peas help balance out any of the bitterness from the arugula.

My two best little food critics love corn and tomatoes in this pasta but go crazy and experiment with your favorite veggies. Any type of bell peppers would be delicious or summer squashes would work too.

With this delicious vegan arugula pesto pasta, you won’t even miss the cheese or extra oil in traditional pesto. The nutritional yeast and cashew milk give it a slightly cheesy flavor, but the garlic, arugula, and peas make it a zesty pesto.

Want to make this gluten free? Try using pasta made from chickpeas like my favorite Banza pasta. It is not mushy and the chickpea flavor is a great pairing with the pesto. Plus chickpea pasta is more nutritious than regular wheat pasta, it is loaded with fiber and protein. Yum!

Arugula Pesto Pasta

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Homemade vegan arugula pesto pasta with chickpeas, tomatoes, and corn. A quick, easy plant-based weeknight meal.

• Author: Erica
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Total Time: 22 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 servings
• Category: Pasta
• Cuisine: Plant-based
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

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• 16oz of pasta
• 1 cup of corn
• One cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• One 15.5 ounce can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

Arugula Pesto

• 3 cups of fresh arugula
• 1 cup of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 1/4 of walnut pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 cup of cashew milk
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• Salt to taste

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Instructions

1. Fill a large pot with water. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packaging.
2. If using frozen corn, throw it in the pasta pot for the remaining two minutes of cooking time. Just enough time to thaw the corn.
3. In a food processor or blender, add all pesto ingredients: arugula, parsley, peas, walnuts, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, cashew milk, black pepper, and salt. Blend all ingredients until smooth, scraping down sides occasionally.
4. Add the pasta, corn, tomatoes, garbanzo beans to a large bowl. Add pesto sauce to the bowl and mix until pesto is evenly incorporated. Time to eat!

Notes

Pasta is delicious chilled and will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Grilled corn is also great in this pasta!