Easy dish alert! With box pasta, frozen veggies and jarred pesto, this pasta bake practically cooks itself. You can use any store-bought pesto you want (or even make your own), but I was at Trader Joe’s so I snagged a jar of their Pesto alla Genovese.

TJ’s pesto has a bit of a unique taste — my husband wasn’t the hugest fan — but I liked it! It’s a bit richer than our homemade pesto, and the second two ingredients are sunflower oil and potatoes (def odd for a pesto). It also doesn’t have lemon juice, which I always add to my pesto to brighten it up. Your call, but just a heads up re: the TJ’s pesto if you don’t want to mix things up!

I topped the dish with Parmesan cheese, but you can do any cheese you want. Classic mozzarella would be great, as would gruyere, asiago, Swiss or even gouda. You do you!

INGREDIENTS

16 oz. frozen broccoli, cooked & chopped
12 oz. bag frozen peas, cooked
Pat of butter
8 oz. pasta (we used Good & Gather Gluten Free Red Lentil Rotini)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 T. minced garlic
2 t. Italian seasoning
Salt, pepper & nutritional yeast, to taste
6.7 oz. jar pesto (we used Trader Joe’s Pesto Alla Genovese)
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
5 oz. shaved Parmesan or other hard cheese
3/4 c. veggie broth + extra

STEPS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the broccoli according to package directions and chop into small pieces. Add to a large bowl.
Cook the peas according to package directions. Drain and add to the bowl with the broccoli.
Cook and drain the pasta, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and add to the bowl with the broccoli and peas.
Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion and sauté until it starts to become translucent and release water, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and Italian seasoning. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast. When the spices start to stick to the pan, add a splash of vegetable broth. Continue to cook (adding splashes of vegetable broth as needed) until the onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Once done, add the onions to the bowl with the broccoli, pasta and peas.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the main bowl. Pour the pesto into the bowl (hack: pour a bit of veggie broth into the pesto jar and shake it up to get all the remaining pesto). Toss everything will to fully coat the pasta.
Evenly distribute the pasta in a 9 in. X 1 1 in. glass baking dish. Pour 3/4 c. vegetable broth evenly over the pasta. Top with the Parmesan cheese.
Cook the dish uncovered — my husband cooked this while I was at book club at claims it took an hour and 15 minutes to get it hot and the cheese melted…he said he stuck his finger in the middle after 30 minutes and it was still cold lol. Not calling my husband a liar — but maybe after it’s cooked for 30 minutes, check it every 15 minutes or so!