Green, filling, weeknight
Basil Pesto Chickpea Pasta
Whole-wheat pasta, a jar of real pesto, and a can of chickpeas. The chickpeas are the protein. The pesto is the reason you eat it.
20minutes
3servings
18gprotein
430kcal est.
Method
- Boil pasta in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Save a cup of the cooking water.
- Warm oil in a skillet. Add chickpeas and a pinch of salt; let them blister a little, 3–4 minutes.
- Add drained pasta, pesto, spinach, lemon, and a splash of pasta water. Toss until the spinach wilts and the sauce clings.
- Plate with pine nuts, Parmesan, pepper, and basil. If it looks dry, it wants more pasta water, not more pesto.
What we swapped
Chickpeas plus whole-wheat pasta instead of a cream sauce and white noodles. Pine nuts stay; they earn their keep.
