Pesto Pasta With Mushroom and Cherry Tomatoes
Pesto pasta with mushroom and cherry tomatoes is an easy vegetarian pasta recipe in which I have used cilantro pesto instead of basil pesto. I have also added blanched almonds for making this pasta which complements the taste of cilantro leaves.
Servings 4 People
Ingredients
- 1 cup Penne pasta
- 8 garlic cloves chopped
- 5 button mushrooms
- 6 cherry tomatoes sliced
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili flake optional
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- To taste salt
For the pesto:
- 1.5 cups cilantro leaves chopped
- 10 almonds blanched , check notes
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 1/2 medium sized chopped bell pepper
Instructions
- Boil 4 cups water. When the water starts boiling add pasta and boil it al-dente.
- Drain the pasta and retain one cup of water in which pasta was boiled.
- While the pasta boils, keep the ingredients for pesto ready.
- In a blender, blend together peeled blanched almonds, chopped cilantro, chopped onion, and chopped bell pepper. Do not add water while blending this pesto. Once done, keep it aside.
- In a frying pan or skillet, add olive oil. When the oil heats, add garlic and toss.
- When the raw smell of garlic goes away, add chopped mushrooms, and fry them for 2 minutes.
- Add the sliced cherry tomatoes and fry for 1 minute.
- Next, add the prepared cilantro pesto sauce and give everything a nice stir.
- Add black pepper powder and mix well.
- Mix the drained pasta and add salt to taste.
- Garnish with Italian seasoning and red chili flakes or paprika.
- Serve it and enjoy it hot :)
Video
Notes
- Always cook pasta al-dente meaning, do not overcook pasta.
- Never add oil to water while boiling pasta as the sauce will not get coated properly to the pasta.
- Do not discard the water after cooking the pasta. This can be used if the sauce becomes thick.
- Addition of red chili flakes is optional.
- Cherry tomatoes can be added full without slicing them. This will make the pasta look even more better.
- You can add parmesan cheese for garnishing the pasta, I skipped this step.
- To make blanched almonds, simply add the almonds to 1/2 cup water in a mug and microwave for 1 minute. After cooling, the peel comes off easily. If you do not have a microwave, boil water, and add almonds to it and soak for 30 minutes.