Pesto Pasta Salad

This pesto pasta salad with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and basil couldn't be much easier! It's ready in less than 15 minutes! And it's packed with Mediterranean flavor, which makes it perfect for summer.

Course Salad, Side

Cuisine American, Italian, Mediterranean

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Servings servings

Calories 462kcal

Author Sina

Ingredients

9 oz spaghetti
4 tablespoons pesto rosso (red pesto with sun-dried tomatoes) use a store-bought vegan one or use homemade vegan pesto
10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
10 artichoke hearts in oil
4 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 handful fresh basil
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package. Rinse with cold water after cooking and set aside.
In the meantime, roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes and the artichokes.
Put the pine nuts in a frying pan without oil and cook them over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Stir them frequently until they're golden. Make sure not to cook them for too long as they burn easily.
Roughly chop the basil or rip it by hand.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked spaghetti with the pesto, the sun-dried tomatoes, and the artichokes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the chopped basil and the roasted pine nuts.

Notes

I used store-bought vegan red pesto for my pesto pasta salad. Check out your local health food store for vegan pesto options. If you can't find it, you could of course also make your own vegan pesto with sun-dried tomatoes.
If you want to change up the recipe a bit, you could also use my vegan pesto with basil instead of the pesto rosso.
You can either use regular spaghetti for this pasta salad or whole wheat spaghetti. For a gluten-free version I recommend using brown rice spaghetti.
It's important to rinse the spaghetti after cooking. This way the cooking process will be stopped immediately and they won't become too mushy for the pasta salad. And it's also an easy way to quickly bring down the temperature of the pasta. Besides, it also helps that the pasta doesn't become gummy and clump together.
I absolutely love this pesto pasta salad in the summer, but you could also serve it warm as a pasta dish. Maybe even sprinkle it with some vegan Parmesan.
If you're not a fan of spaghetti pasta salad because you think it's too hard to eat, you could of course also use short pasta like penne or rotini.

Nutrition