Description
This Healthy Baked Pesto Rigatoni is tossed with heirloom tomatoes and a saucy spinach pesto that will knock your socks off.
Ingredients
Scale
For the pasta:
- 1 lb. whole wheat rigatoni
- 2-3 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used Asiago)
- pesto (recipe follows)
For the pesto:
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 cup kale
- 1 cup basil
- 3/4 cup almonds or pine nuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan or Asiago cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large cloves garlic
- juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. While the water is boiling, chop up the tomatoes – I just cut the little ones in half. Add the pasta to the water and cook according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, place all the pesto ingredients in the food processor until smooth. You may have to push the spinach down periodically to get everything moving. I had to do this in two batches because my food processor is very small. You should end up with 2 heaping cups of pesto.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cooked noodles with the chopped tomatoes, pesto, and enough water to make it a little saucy. Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Cover loosely with well-oiled aluminum foil and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Notes
Nutrition is for 10 servings.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: pesto rigatoni, pesto recipe, whole wheat pasta recipe, healthy pasta recipe