Creamy Pesto Pasta

This amazing meal is one of the few recipes we have created that contains some dairy. My aunt Justine first turned me on to this recipe. It was actually a special that was put together at Trader Joe’s, containing bruschetta, pesto, and goat cheese. This is a very simple sauce to create, and is ready to eat in about 5 minutes!

For this recipe, we made our own fresh basil pesto, but the bruschetta is from Trader Joe’s. If you do not have access to a Trader Joe’s, take on your own kitchen adventure, and make your own bruschetta!

For the pesto:

Ingredients:

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 medium cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

**An optional addition to this recipe is adding in 1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese. Since we do not typically consume dairy, and the sauce includes goat cheese, we omitted this ingredient.

Process:

In a food processor, pulse basil leaves and pine nuts.
Add in garlic and continue to pulse.
While the mixture is processing, slowly add in olive oil.
Add in salt and pepper to taste.
Continue to blend until all ingredients are evenly blended.
This recipe makes about a cup of pesto. It should keep for about a week. Adding a bit of olive oil to the top will create a protective barrier and the pesto will keep longer.

For the Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 jars Trader Joe’s bruschetta
3 heaping tablespoons, or 1/4 cup fresh basil pesto
1 oz of goat cheese
Spaghetti Squash

Process:

In a sauce pan, pour in bruschetta and heat on medium.
Prepare spaghetti squash by slicing in half, and microwaving for approx. 9 minutes. Once it cools, scoop out the squash with a fork.
Add in pesto and goat cheese to saucepan with bruschetta.
Bring mixture to a light boil, and turn down to simmer. Stir frequently until the bruschetta, pesto, and goat cheese are all combined into a creamy sauce.
Toss with spaghetti squash and serve.