Just 4 ingredients and you'll have a delicious and flavorful one pot dinner ready to go with this pesto gemelli pasta studded with spinach and cherry tomatoes. Bursting with fresh basil flavor, this easy vegan veggie pesto pasta can be served warm or cold as a pesto pasta salad.
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🧄 Ingredient notes
This simple and quick veggie pesto pasta requires just a few ingredients:
- gemelli pasta (or other medium pasta, like casarecce pasta, fusilli, rotini, penne or medium shells)
- vegan green basil pesto (either homemade or store-bought. I used an oil-free pesto, but use what you have - pesto is so good!)
- cherry tomatoes
- fresh baby spinach
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- Lemon wedges and fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Looking for the measurements? Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post for the ingredient quantities.
🔪 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!
Looking for the temps and times? Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post for all the step by step details on ingredients and instructions. There's also a print recipe button down there!
☕️ 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.
❓ FAQ
Store this gemelli pasta dish in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Leftover gemelli pasta that is plain can be used to make pasta salad or baked pasta. Leftover gemelli pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes and spinach can be served cold as a pasta salad or heated in the microwave or oven.
Yes, dried gemelli pasta is vegan, as it does not include egg as one of the ingredients. Fresh gemelli pasta that is prepared with eggs would not be considered vegan.
Gemelli is an s-shaped pasta that is formed in to a tight spiral shape. It is medium size pasta that is excellent for pasta salads and baked pasta.
Organic gemelli pasta can be purchased at Costco in the United States. It can also be purchased in grocery stores that carry a wide variety of pasta or you can buy gemelli pasta online at Amazon.
Gemelli pasta, with it's spiral shape, holds sauce well. It is excellent for pesto pasta, pasta salads and pasta with veggie sauce.
Traditional gemelli pasta is not gluten free, as it is made with wheat flour. Some gemelli pasta, that is made with gluten-free flour like rice, chickpea, lentils, for example, are gluten-free.
🔄 Variations
Creamy pesto pasta
Add a few tablespoons of vegan sour cream to this pesto pasta with veggies to make it creamy and rich. I recommend using my cashew cream recipe to accomplish this (pictured below), it tastes amazing!
💜 More recipes you'll love
If you love this veggie pesto pasta recipe, check out these other veggie pasta dishes, all vegan, vegetarian and plant-based!
Love this recipe? Please rate it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below in the recipe card. And, if you make it, please tag me on Instagram or Facebook in your posted photos! I would love to see your creations. 😄
📖 Recipe
Gemelli Pasta with Pesto, Tomatoes and Spinach
Ingredients
- 16 ounces gemelli pasta 1 package
- ⅓ cup vegan pesto green basil pesto, either homemade or store-bought
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes halved
- 8 ounces fresh baby spinach
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Lemon wedges and fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Once it is boiling, add gemelli pasta to water and stir. Cook according to package directions, until tender.
- When pasta is done, turn off heat and immediately stir in all of the spinach in the pasta water. The spinach will wilt within seconds. Drain all the water out of the pot and return the pasta and spinach to the pot.
- Stir in pesto and tomatoes. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed. Serve hot right away with lemon wedges and fresh basil leaves, if available. Or, chill and serve as a cold pesto pasta salad.
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