Sneak in some spinach and make this delicious vegan lemony pesto with the goodness of almonds and pistachios as well as this colorful Instant Pot Spinach Pesto Pasta.
Instant Pot Spinach Pesto Pasta
Today I am going to share spinach pesto pasta as a part of the BM theme – Kid’s Delight – Veggies Sneaked in. Kiddo loves pesto, and I use it not only for pasta but also in other recipes(see below). From the recipe name you would have guessed what I sneaked in, and yes it is the SPINACH.
I know nothing can beat the classic basil pesto, but these non-classical pestos will make you go wow as well. For this recipe, I combined spinach and basil along with almonds and pistachios. I added some lemon juice and zest to get that extra zing.
Why Almonds Instead of Pine Nuts?
I went with almonds in my cilantro pesto recipe, and even in this spinach pesto, I am using almonds as well as pistachios. There is no particular reason for skipping pine nuts. I always have almonds and pistachios in my pantry as we snack on them regularly.
Even though I make fresh basil pesto (finally I started to grow my basil in my backyard) during the basil season, pine nuts are rare in my pantry. As we like the taste, I began to use almonds regularly on my pesto.
Is Pesto only for Pasta?
I would say NO. Here are some non-pasta recipes where I use pesto.
- We love pesto sandwiches. Just smear a tablespoon of pesto and grill it with cheese and voila you have a yummylicious sandwich. Now add some eggplant to make an eggplant panini. :-)
- This lemony spinach pesto is a great salad dressing too.
- Add a dollop of this pesto to your soups, especially tomato soup, and you will be in food heaven for sure.
How to Cook Pasta in Instant Pot?
As mentioned in my carrot sauce pasta the formula is – cook pasta for half the lowest package cooking time, minus one minute and do a quick pressure release. The farfalle pasta package (I bought the Sprout’s brand pasta) mentioned the cooking time range as 11 to 13 minutes. So I took the lowest range which is 11 and decreased it to 10 to get an even number. Then half of 10 is 5 and then minus one which is 4. So the cooking time for farfalle pasta is just four minutes for the entire packet or only half of it.
Now without any further ado, here is the spinach basil pesto recipe.
Instant Pot Spinach Pesto Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
For the Pesto Sauce:
- Spinach – 1 cup
- Basil – ¾ cup
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
- Lemon Zest – 1 tsp
- Garlic Clove – 1
- Almonds – 10
- Deshelled Pistachios – 10
- Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
For Cooking the Pasta:
- Farfalle – 2 cups
- Water – 3 cups
- Olive Oil – 1 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
For the Spinach Pesto Pasta:
- Spinach Pesto- 4 tbsps
- Ground Pepper – ½ tsp
- Pasta – cooked from above
- Lemon Zest – ½ tsp
- Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
Instructions:
Step 1 – To Prepare the Spinach Pesto:
- Blanch the almonds and pistachios and peel the skin. I soaked in hot water for about one hour and then peeled the skin off.
- Add the spinach, basil, blanched nuts, garlic clove, salt, and lemon juice and blend it. Then add the olive oil and make a smooth paste.
- Finally, add the lemon zest and mix it.
- As the pesto oxidizes quickly, store it in an air-tight container right away.
Step 2 – To Cook the Pasta:
- Add the pasta, water, olive oil, and salt to the inner pot of the IP. Mix them thoroughly.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” setting and set the cooking time to 4 minutes at high pressure. (Time might vary depending upon the pasta and the variety. Check the formula above)
- When it beeps after four minutes, press the cancel button and then carefully move the vent to the open position and release all the pressure.
- When the pressure is released, carefully open the lid. Drain the pasta and if required then reserve some starchy water.
Step 3: Making the Spinach Pesto Pasta:
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the cooked pasta, ground pepper, and the olive oil. Mix it well.
- Now press the cancel button and set the IP in the Keep Warm mode.
- Then add about 4 tbsp of the pesto and give it a mix.
- Finally, add the lemon zest and cheese and serve it hot.
- Skip the cheese, if you want to keep it vegan.
Notes:
- Adjust the salt and pepper as per your preference.
- I did not follow any ratio with spinach and basil. You can increase or decrease either as per your preference.
- Lemon zest is entirely optional.
- Last but not the least, don’t forget to checkout my Asian pasta salad recipe or basil pesto pasta recipe.
P.S.:
- Sending this to Srivalli’s Kid’s Delight event, guest hosted by me themed on Veggies Sneaked In.
- Sending this recipe for the BM 94. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#94.
📖 Recipe
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Spinach Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
For the Pesto Sauce:
- 1 cup Spinach
- ¾ cup Basil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 10 Almonds
- 10 Deshelled Pistachios
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
For Cooking the Pasta:
- 2 cups Farfalle
- 3 cups Water
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Salt
For the Spinach Pesto Pasta:
- 4 tbsps Spinach Pesto
- ½ tsp Ground Pepper
- Pasta - cooked from above
- ½ tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
Step 1 - To Prepare the Spinach Pesto:
- Blanch the almonds and pistachios and peel the skin. I soaked in hot water for about one hour and then peeled the skin off.
- Add the spinach, basil, blanched nuts, garlic clove, salt, and lemon juice and blend it. Then add the olive oil and make a smooth paste.
- Finally, add the lemon zest and mix it.
- As the pesto oxidizes quickly, store it in an air-tight container right away.
Step 2 - To Cook the Pasta:
- Add the pasta, water, olive oil, and salt to the inner pot of the IP. Mix them thoroughly.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" setting and set the cooking time to 4 minutes at high pressure. (Time might vary depending upon the pasta and the variety. Check the formula above)
- When it beeps after four minutes, press the cancel button and then carefully move the vent to the open position and release all the pressure.
- When the pressure is released, carefully open the lid. Drain the pasta and if required then reserve some starchy water.
Step 3: Making the Spinach Pesto Pasta:
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the cooked pasta, ground pepper, and the olive oil. Mix it well.
- Now press the cancel button and set the IP in the Keep Warm mode.
- Then add about 4 tbsp of the pesto and give it a mix.
- Finally, add the lemon zest and cheese and serve it hot.
- Skip the cheese, if you want to keep it vegan.
Notes
- Adjust the salt and pepper as per your preference.
- I did not follow any ratio with spinach and basil. You can increase or decrease either as per your preference.
- Lemon zest is entirely optional.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
This is such a fantastic recipe Srividhya, love the colour and the composition you have created!..If kids enjoy this food, nothing like it!
Thanks Valli.
Spinach pesto paste looks so delicious. NIce color it has got.
Thanks a lot.
I love pesto with everything! Love summer time just to make tons of pesto with home grown basil. I have not tried spinach pesto yet. I will give this a try as I have some baby spinach in my refrigerator.
Please do try Sandhya I am sure you will love it. Homegrown is always the best.
I don’t use pine nuts in pesto rather using other nuts. and still taste great. pasta with pesto sauce is a great idea and taste awesome.
:-) Thanks a lot.
I make spinach pesto often and usually have a bottle of it in my fridge -pesto pasta always makes everyone happy and useful to show people how to make pasta in instant pot
So true, love pesto pasta anytime.
The colour of the pesto is so vibrant because of the spinach used. Using it with pasta, kids would go crazy.
Very true, Gayathri.
Wow ! very vibrant looking pasta. I should try this for sure.
Thanks, Harini. Please do try and let me know.
You rock simply with your instant pot and love the way you bring so many dishes with your IP, am sure soon you can write a cookbook for IP lovers Vidhya, seriously.. You have to think about it. Am amazed. Delicious, how catchy and vibrant those spinach pesto pasta looks, drooling.
ha ha Thanks for your kind words Priya… :-)
Pine nuts are expensive, and also go rancid, unlike almonds and pistachios which keep well for long. Even I buy pine nuts only when necessary. I would love to try the spinach pesto at home, with the pasta… sounds really interesting and flavorful!
Oh yeah very true. Thanks a lot Rafeeda.
I have not tried pasta in IP. Will keep your pasta cooking in IP formula in mind. I use walnuts instead of pine nuts in my pesto. Spinach pasta is colorful and inviting.
Thanks Usha.