Marry Me Pesto Pasta

Vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free option

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Serves 4

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Vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free option 〰️ Serves 4 〰️

The name of this pasta sets the bar pretty high, doesn’t it? I’m very happy to report, however, that this dish does live up to the expectation. The rich, fragrant pesto pairs so perfectly with the sweet and juicy blistered cherry tomatoes. There’s just something so comforting about homemade pesto pasta.

I love to make this dish on a weeknight. I’ll pop the tomatoes in the oven to roast in the morning while I get ready to leave for the day. Before I head out, I store them in the fridge, so that by the time that dinner rolls around, I simply need to blend the pesto ingredients together and cook the pasta. In my humble opinion, sounds like the perfect weeknight dinner to me.

To see a video of how to make this dish, click here.

INGREDIENTS

Cherry tomatoes:

• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• Pinch sea salt

Pesto:

• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, rinsed

• 1 cup raw cashews

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
  

• 250 g penne pasta (dry weight, use gluten-free if needed)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the cherry tomatoes on the baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt. Place the tray in the oven for 60 minutes, until the tomatoes have blistered.

   3 cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed

   1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

   Pinch sea salt

2. In the meantime, you can prepare the pesto. Combine all of the pesto ingredients in a high speed blender, and process until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender as necessary, to make sure that everything is incorporated. Once smooth, taste and season to your liking.

   1 bunch fresh basil leaves, rinsed

   1 cup raw cashews

   1/2 cup nutritional yeast

   1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

   Juice of 1/2 lemon

   1/2 teaspoon sea salt

   1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

3. Prepare the pasta by cooking as per the packet instructions.
   250 g penne pasta (dry weight, use gluten-free if needed)

4. Once the tomatoes have roasted, remove the tray from the oven. Place the pasta in a large serving bowl. Gently stir the pesto and the tomatoes through the pasta. Enjoy! If you have any leftovers, allow to cool fully before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.