Pesto Pasta, Peas, and Chickpeas

Okay, here’s your next weeknight dinner. Pesto pasta, peas, and chickpeas is so easy, so fast, and so delicious! Pesto is my go-to for a flavorful pasta. It’s filled with basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, and olive oil – the sauce of my dreams.

Sometimes I’ll make my own, if the basil is fresh, but a good store bought pesto is perfect too. No judgment for all of us who are just trying to get dinner on the table.

I add more flavor to this dish with the sundried tomatoes and pine nuts. My son LOVES pine nuts, so I add them to a lot of pastas and I love sundried tomatoes, so they often make an appearance. I call this more bang for the buck — big flavor for not a lot of ingredients.

How do you add more nutrition to this? Add beans. I like chickpeas, but black-eyed peas would be delicious in this too.

What I really love about this pasta is that you get protein from the peas and the chickpeas, but you could always add more — maybe chicken or shrimp.

Watch out for those weird people out there who say you can’t eat pasta, or shouldn’t eat pasta. If you don’t like regular semolina pasta, swap it out for whole wheat pasta, lentil pasta, or double up on the chickpeas with some chickpea pasta.

Pesto Pasta, Peas, and Chickpeas is sure to become a family favorite — add a salad or a side of roasted potatoes if you really want to be fancy.

If you want more Mediterranean recipes, check out my newest cookbook, Live to Eat Well

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