Pasta and pesto is my go-to dish on nights when I don’t feel like cooking something elaborate. There’s nothing quite like spicy pesto to give pasta a little extra somethin’ somethin’.
I recently came across a few new products that piqued my interest while shopping at Whole Foods. First I came across some spicy vegan pesto and when I looked for a pasta to serve it with, I noticed a gluten-free pasta made with mung beans. How could I resist? I threw them together with cannellini beans, pan seared mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped olives for a quick and tasty dinner.
Because pre-bought pesto can get a little pricy, I’ve recreated the spicy pesto at home using arugula. I like to make this dish with sun-dried tomatoes, but grape tomatoes give it a little color. You can add any kind of veggie you’d like to this pasta and pesto – I often add broccoli or red peppers.

Pasta and Pesto
Vegan Pesto Pasta is my go-to dinner dish on busy nights. It comes together in a matter of minutes, and it's easy to customize your liking.
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 8 ounces pasta
- 1 cup Arugula Pesto Spinach Pesto, or store-bought non-dairy pesto
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes sliced
- 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives sliced
Instructions
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Cook pasta according to instructions, strain, toss with pesto and set aside.
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While the pasta is cooking heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat and cook the onions for about 5 minutes, until they begin to brown.
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Add the mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of sea salt. Continue cooking the mushrooms until they’ve browned, about 5 to 7 more minutes.
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Add the sun-dried tomatoes and beans and cook until they’re headed throughout, about another minute or two.
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Toss the mushroom mixture into the pasta. Top with the olives.
Oh, this looks like my kind of dish! I would LOVE this! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
The party starts tonight! Can’t wait to see what you bring this week!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com