Pesto Lovers Pasta
In March of 2012, my husband had finally had enough. He had been taking off work with severe GI issues, moodiness, cold sweats, and so on.
As hard as it would be to go on a month long elimination diet we both felt pretty certain it was what we needed to do. He had an inkling that gluten might have something to do with it and so that's where we started.
Learning about new food brands and researching all of the foods that have hidden gluten was definitely a major undertaking. Wheat in soy sauce?? Who would have thought!
So when we started experimenting with pasta noodles....Well, let me tell ya - all gluten-free pastas are NOT created equal.
One of the first noodles we tried is still, to this day, my favorite is TINKYADA.
They are so much better than anything I've found because they are not mushy (biggest problem with GF pastas normally) and are made from non-GMO brown rice.
Bonus is that they have so many types of noodles like spirals, shells, spaghetti noodles, fusilli, penne, elbows, etc.
Some grocery stores have them like Sprouts, but Amazon consistently has them in stock which is easy for me with a Prime membership.
Needless to say, Tinkyada was my brand of choice when making this Pesto Pasta.
This is such a simple dish that comes together quickly but is still packed with flavor particularly from our veggie packed pesto.
We love to sneak in tons of nutrient dense veggies into our family friendly dishes and this one is no exception. The pesto alone has spinach and broccoli and we add asparagus and peas to this dish to make it even more nutritious.
This pasta dish is a family favorite that even the pickiest of eaters will love too.
This can be made with or without cheese, if you're dairy free we love the Follow Your Heart vegan cheese brand, It is super delicious, you won't even realize it's dairy free.
Try it out and let us know what you think in a comment below. If you snap a pic make sure to tag us @deliciouslysimplerecipes on IG and FB.
Happy pasta night ya'll, you'll love it!
Pesto Lovers Pasta
serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 lb dried pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp minced garlic
6-8 brown crimini mushrooms or button mushrooms
1 bundle (12 oz) asparagus
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup pesto
Optional topping: parmesan cheese or dairy-free cheese
Instructions:
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and toss in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil.
Heat the 2 tbsp. olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute being careful not to let it burn.
Prepare mushrooms and asparagus. Cut the ends off the asparagus and then cut the remainder into 1 inch pieces. Slice each mushroom length wise into 4-5 pieces.
Add asparagus, mushrooms, peas, salt and pepper and cook until vegetables have softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Toss veggies in a bowl with the pesto and pasta until incorporated.
Top with parmesan cheese or a dairy- free parmesan. Serve hot.