Description
This 20 minute creamy pesto pasta is a balanced and super satisfying one pot meal! My secret? Cottage cheese! Boasting almost 30 grams of protein per cup, plus the benefits of B vitamins, cottage cheese adds an extra dose of nutrition while also keeping you full longer after eating. Store bought pesto saves even more time so you can whip this up on a busy weeknight for a fuss free dinner the whole family can enjoy.
Ingredients
250g grams pasta noodles (I like Catelli smart pasta for a bit of extra fiber)
¼ cup pasta water
1 cups cottage cheese
¼ cup pesto
1 packed cup spinach
Salt and pepper, to taste (I like my food on the saltier side and add ¼ – ½ tsp salt but this is totally up to your preference!)
To serve:
Parmesan cheese, grated
Lemon wedges
Chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta boiling water then drain and set aside.
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In a blender, add the cottage cheese, pesto, pasta water, spinach, salt and pepper if using and blend until smooth (alternatively omit the salt and pepper, taste the sauce once blended and adjust to taste as desired. Note the flavor will mellow when mixed in with the noodles, but you can always salt once plated if desired!
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Add the pesto sauce to the same pot the pasta was boiled in and return the pasta to the pot. Heat over low-medium heat until just heated through (if heat is too high, the sauce will separate), stirring frequently so the sauce doesn’t burn, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and top with parmesan and a squeeze of lemon (don’t’ skip these!) and chili flakes, if using.
Notes
I recommend enjoying this pasta fresh. It is not the best leftover/reheated as I find it gets a bit dry and the sauce can separate a bit when reheated. That said we have had it as leftover before but definitely prefer it fresh!
Serving Additions: While it is a complete and balanced meal as is, I like to serve it with an additional protein like chicken thighs or breasts (my favorfite is BBQ’d!), salmon, prawns or scallops
Tip re: noodle package size: I generally try to create recipes using up the whole box/package if I can but as I mentioned this recipe is best eaten fresh which is why I only used 250g. If you’ve bought a larger package ( many come in 375-400g), cook the whole thing and freeze the extra noodles, or 1.5 x the sauce to cover all of the noodles if serving a larger crowd!
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes