Pasta with Pesto and Broccolini

I’ve got a tasty, easy, 30-minute, one-pot, kid approved pasta dish for you all. I make this pasta up all of the time and I love it because it’s simple, kid approved and even makes enough leftovers for the kid’s lunches the next day. Yippee!

This is a meatless pasta dish, but some nights we don’t feel like eating meatless, so I’ll add a bit of protein to our pasta like chicken sausages.

I occasionally use store-bought pesto, but since I’ve discovered my new FAVORITE kale, spinach and basil pesto, I find myself making up this pasta just so that I can eat some more of this pesto.  YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS PESTO, IT’S A GAME CHANGER!

Also, my kids LOVE broccolini in any shape or form, so I love tossing a few bunches of that into the pasta! The broccolini cooks up with the pasta, making this dinner even easier!  Ok, let’s make up some pasta.

Pasta with Pesto and Broccolini

serves 4-6

• 2 cups of kale, spinach and basil pesto – you can use your favorite store-bought pesto, but I would highly recommend trying the kale pesto
• 2 bunches broccolini, washed and trimmed
• 1 pound (1 box) rigatoni, or your favorite pasta – you can also use brown rice pasta to make it GF
• Parmesan cheese for topping
• Optional – 4 sweet Italian sausages, sautéed with bit of olive oil on skillet and then sliced into rounds

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.

Now’s the time to make up the kale, spinach and basil pesto, if you haven’t done so already. I always make up my pesto ahead to time to save myself this step. 

Wash and trim your broccolini.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccolini during the last minute of cooking time. Basically if your pasta says it will be done in 13 minutes, then set a timer for 12 minutes and then add the broccolini for the last minute of cooking time (making it a total of 13 minutes). I love cooking the broccolini with the pasta, because it’s all done in one pot and at the same time. 

Drain both the pasta and broccolini together.

Put the pasta and broccolini back into the same pot you cooked the pasta in, and add in the pesto and sliced sausage, if using. Toss everything to combine.

Serve up the pasta into individual bowls, and top with some parmesan cheese. 

This is a tasty, kid approved, easy weeknight, one-bowl, one-pot meatless pasta! Enjoy!

It even makes great leftovers for the kid’s lunches, as it’s great cold or warm. Here’s a photo of Eli’s lunch with the leftover pasta.