Just 4 ingredients and you'll have a delicious and flavorful one-pot dinner ready to go with this gemelli pesto pasta studded with cherry tomatoes and spinach. Bursting with fresh basil flavor, this easy vegan veggie pesto pasta can be served warm or cold as a pesto pasta salad for busy weeknights.

pasta in bowl with fork, napkin, lemon and basil leaves

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Pesto pasta is ideal in summertime when tomatoes and basil are in season. But, it can be enjoyed all year round in most parts of the world.

Basil pesto freezes well, so keep a jar stored in the freezer and pull it out when you want that burst of summertime flavor.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

This simple and quick veggie pesto pasta requires just a few ingredients.

Gemelli pasta - the pesto clings to the spiral shape of gemelli pasta, making this a great choice for this recipe
Vegan green basil pesto - use either homemade or store-bought pesto from the grocery store. I used a homemade basil pesto, but use what you have. Pesto is so good and full of fresh basil flavor, it makes you want to put it on everything! Trader Joe's makes a good vegan kale basil pesto.
Cherry tomatoes - the little cherry tomatoes pack a lot of sweet summertime flavor in a small bite. I find the best deal on quality cherry tomatoes at Costco, but if you grow any in your summer backyard garden, absolutely use those in this! These are also called grape tomatoes or angel sweet tomatoes.
Fresh spinach - fresh baby spinach is very mild in flavor, it adds veg to the dish without taking away from the intense basil pesto flavor
Lemon juice - brightens the whole dish!

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitutions you can use when making this pesto pasta:

Gemelli pasta - can be substituted with other medium or short pasta shapes, like fusilli, spirals, shells, macaroni, casarecce, rotini, gigli, penne, farfalle, or penne rigate.
Fresh baby spinach - can be substituted with chopped mature spinach, kale or swiss chard.
Cherry tomatoes - can be substituted with diced fresh roma tomatoes, sliced sun-dried tomatoes or even cut roasted red peppers.
Nut-free - make this nut-free by choosing a nut-free pesto, perhaps one made with seeds instead.
WFPBNO - make this whole food plant based no oil by using whole wheat pasta and oil-free vegan pesto

Looking to switch things up? Try these pasta variations:

Spicy - add red pepper flakes to the finished dish to infuse a little heat to this pesto pasta.
Add protein - add protein like baked tofu, chickpeas, soaked and sauteed soy curls, butter beans or your favorite protein to bulk it up
Cheesy - add some vegan parmesan
Broccoli - substitute broccoli for the spinach
Creamy pesto pasta salad (pictured below) - Add a few tablespoons of vegan sour cream to this spinach pesto pasta with veggies to make it creamy and rich. A little of the leftover pasta water would also be good for adding moisture and creaminess. I recommend using my cashew cream recipe to accomplish this (pictured below), it tastes amazing!

🔪 Instructions

Perfect for a weeknight dinner, you can pull this meal together in less than 30 minutes and just one pot. It's a matter of boiling your gemelli pasta, cutting your tomatoes, then mixing in the vegan pesto and veggies. Season with salt and pepper and devour!

Step 1: Boil the gemelli pasta over high heat in well-salted water.

Step 2: Cut your cherry tomatoes in half, lengthwise.

Step 3: When pasta is al dente, turn off heat and immediately stir in all of the spinach in the pasta water. The spinach will wilt within seconds.

Step 4: Drain all the water out of the pot and return the pasta and spinach to the pot. Stir in pesto.

Step 5: Carefully stir in tomatoes.

Step 6 season and salt and pepper and serve

Step 6: Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Serve with fresh lemon wedges and basil leaves.

Expert tips

If you want the spinach in smaller pieces, roughly chop it before adding it to the water.
Don't skip the lemon juice - it brightens the whole dish
Serve hot or cold, depending on your preference. An extra squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of kosher salt over leftover pesto pasta brings more life to it.
Tomatoes come unseasoned from the garden - so you may need to add some salt and pepper, just taste it first to be sure. Your pesto may add enough flavor and seasoning already.

🍳 Equipment

Serrated tomato knife - makes cutting all those cherry tomatoes super easy and quick. This is the stainless steel tomato knife I use and love.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

If storing it, don't add hot pasta to refrigerator. Divide it into separate airtight containers, allow to cool on the counter open with no lids. Then, when they are cool, put lids on and refrigerate.

Store the prepared pesto pasta in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but fresh basil loses its freshness and flavor more each day. So, best to eat it within 3 days for optimal flavor.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

☕️ Tea pairing

This vegetarian pesto pasta recipe would be delicious paired with mint tea, since basil is part of the mint family. When served cold as a vegan pesto pasta salad, pair with classic southern iced tea.

🗺 Cultural influences

Gemelli is a type of pasta from Italy. The name "gemelli" comes from the Italian word that means "twins", since the pasta shape looks like it's two tube-shaped pieces of pasta swirled together.

In fact, it is one piece that is twisted into an S-shaped spiral. It is from the fusilli family of pastas.

Gemelli pasta is traditionally used in pasta salads and casseroles (baked dishes), but also works well in light tomato sauces (with or without vegetables) and creamy sauces.

Traditionally, basil pesto is made with a mortar and pestle with simple ingredients: fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt.

When I make vegan pesto, I typically use fresh basil (and sometimes parsley and spinach), pine nuts (or cashews), olive oil (or water if I'm going to use it right away), nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper.

Sometimes, I will bulk it up with raw carrot, as well. It's delicious and easy to make in a food processor. I love how versatile and punchy pesto is.

💜 More recipes you'll love

If you love this pesto pasta with spinach and tomatoes recipe, check out these other veggie pasta dishes, all vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based!

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