Okay, here’s your next weeknight dinner. Pesto pasta, peas and chickpeas is so easy, so fast, and so delicious! Pesto is my go-to for a flavorful pasta. It’s filled with basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, and olive oil – the sauce of my dreams.
Sometimes I’ll make my own if the basil is fresh, but a good store-bought pesto is perfect, too. No judgment for all of us who are just trying to get dinner on the table.
I add more flavor to this dish with the sundried tomatoes and pine nuts. My son loves pine nuts, so I add them to a lot of pastas, and I love sundried tomatoes, so they often make an appearance. I call this more bang for the buck — big flavor for not a lot of ingredients.
How do you add more nutrition to this? Add beans. I like chickpeas, but black-eyed peas would be delicious in this too.
What I really love about this pasta is that you get protein from the peas and the chickpeas, but you could always add more — maybe chicken or shrimp.
Pesto Pasta, Peas and Chickpeas
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces fusilli pasta
- ½ cup basil pesto
- 1, 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 4 ounces (¼ cup) chopped sundried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
- ¼ cup pine nuts
Instructions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. When it’s cooked a to your liking, add to a serving bowl. Mix with pesto and add chickpeas, peas, and sundried tomatoes. Sprinkle pine nuts on top.
