Vegetable Pesto Pasta (Two Ways)

Vegetable Pesto Pasta is a delicious, healthy, and easy meal that comes together in only 20 minutes. Can be eaten cold or hot. Great for meal prep and picnics. Versatile and can be adapted for different vegetables and tastes.

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My husband and I cannot ever agree on pasta sauces: red or white? He’s team red. I am team white. The struggle is real! He usually wins.

We usually end up with red sauces because they are much easier and, unfortunately, healthier. But besides red and white, there’s another type of pasta that I like and that is something that I actually do relatively often. (Although he usually adds a bit of the red sauce into it anyway.)

I am talking about vegetable pesto pasta. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s healthy (ish), and, oh, so pretty! It is also extremely versatile and can be customized to your taste and to whatever you have in the fridge or what is in season.

Vegetable Pesto Pasta is also great for meal prepping as there’s no sauce that would get absorbed into pasta or congeal. It is also great eaten cold or hot, thus making it perfect for picnics or work lunches.

Ingredients for Vegetable Pesto Pasta

• Short size pasta (I used medium/small shells)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Fresh and raw asparagus
• Feta
• Arugula
• Pesto (homemade or store-bought)
• Extra parmesan and a few drops of olive oil for serving (optional)

How to make Vegetable Pesto Pasta Two Ways

The beauty of this Spring Vegetable Pesto Pasta recipe is that it can be done two ways using the same ingredients and preparations: hot as a main course or cold as a pasta salad.

You need to prep all the ingredients first.

1. Cook pasta according to the package instructions.
2. Chop and prep all the veggies and ingredients.

For hot Spring Vegetable Pesto Pasta:

Drain the cooked pasta and, while it is still hot, combine with the rest of the ingredients. Arugula will slightly wilt from the hot pasta. Feta will get a little bit melty, and the residual heat of the pasta will soften and slightly cook the vegetables.

For cold Vegetable Pesto Pasta Salad:

Drain the cooked pasta, transfer the pasta to a large bowl and add a few drops of olive oil to it. Mix. The oil will help the pasta from sticking to itself. Let the pasta completely cool then mix with the rest of the ingredients.

How to shave asparagus

Making shaved asparagus is an extra step but it’s not difficult and it doesn’t take a lot of time. Essentially, shaved asparagus means that each asparagus spear is sliced into very thin (almost translucent) ribbons. 

Shaved asparagus instructions:

• Cut off the woody bottom part of the spear first and discard.
• Lay an individual spear on a cutting board.
• Hold the spear at one end (I like holding the tip of the spear).
• Use a vegetable peeler (Y shaped peeler) to peel away from the place you are holding towards the other end of asparagus. This should create a thin ribbon.
• Continue creating thin ribbons until the whole spear is shaved.
• Snap of the tip/top of the spear and either shave it also or just use whole.

Ingredients and variations for Vegetable Pesto Pasta

• Pasta
  • Use any short pasta such as fusilli, farfalle, rigatonne or shells.
• Asparagus
  • This is a perfect recipe to showcase fresh asparagus as it is used raw.
  • This is also great for when asparagus is expensive. You only need a few spears of asparagus to make the most out of it. Since asparagus is shaved, a few spears go the long way.
  • If you don’t like asparagus or it is not in season you can use:
    • Shaved zucchini (or summer yellow squash) for both hot or cold pesto pasta.
    • Shaved cucumber for cold pesto pasta salad.
    • Shaved carrots for both hot and cold pasta.
    • Brussels sprouts separated into individual leaves will work great in the winter.
  • You can also use a mix of those shaved vegetables to make an even more colourful and delicious Vegetable Pesto Pasta.
• Cherry Tomatoes
  • Cherry tomatoes provide a much needed juiciness to the pesto pasta, so I would recommend not skipping them.
  • You can use a variety of different coloured heirloom cherry tomatoes for an even more beautiful dish.

• Arugula
  • I love the slight bitterness that peppery arugula adds to the Spring Pesto Pasta.
  • You can use spinach or any other favourite greens mix.
  • If you are using other green mixes, make sure that they taste good in hot dishes or make the Cold Pesto Pasta Salad.
• Feta
  • Feta is absolutely delicious in this pasta.
  • You can use goat cheese instead or shaved parmesan.
  • You can also omit cheese altogether to make this Vegetable Pesto Pasta vegan.
  • You can also use tofu instead of cheese for a vegan version.
• Pesto
  • Use your favourite pesto homemade or store-bought pesto recipe.
  • You can try my Carrot Top Pesto Recipe.
  • You can also try my Dill Pesto which is also vegan as it does not have cheese.
  • For store-bought, I like Jamie Oliver pesto.

How to meal prep Vegetable Pesto Pasta

This kind of pasta without traditional red or white sauce is perfect for meal prepping as there is no sauce to get absorbed into pasta or congeal. This recipe is perfect to assemble and enjoy a day or even two, three or four days after it is made.

If you are planning on eating this as a Cold Pesto Pasta Salad, then assemble the ingredients in a container but do not mix. Place cooled and lightly oiled pasta in the container and move to the side. Next arrange small piles of the vegetables next to the pasta and add a big dollop of pest on top of the pasta. Mix right before serving.

If you would like to eat this Spring Vegetable Pesto Pasta hot then you can assemble it the same way as the cold version above and just mix before heating it up in a microwave or a small frying pan.

Alternatively, you could store the pasta already mixed but I would suggest not to store for more than one or two days as the vegetables will start wilting and losing their freshness when mixed like that.

For a more complete meal, add some meal prepped chicken to the pasta. I love this complete guide on How to Cook Chicken Breasts Perfectly by Carmy.

I use these glass containers for my meal preps. 

More pasta recipes:

• One-Pot Caprese Macaroni and Cheese
• Quick 15 Minute Blue Cheese and Pesto Pasta
• Instant Pot Creamy Pasta and Meatballs
• Instant Pot Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo (vegetarian)
• Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta