Tender beans cozy up with hearty pasta and fragrant pesto in this White Bean Pasta recipe – a 30 minute weeknight meal!
Where to begin?
I have so much on my “To Do” list that just thinking about it is making me want to stress-eat pasta!
Oh, hey! PASTA.
Beans and pasta, to be precise.
This is one of those dinners that once I started making it I wondered why I haven’t been making it for years. It’s so quick and easy, plus it’s packed with flavor (and protein!).
Technically you could make this white bean pesto pasta with whatever sort of pasta you like, but I prefer to make it with orecchiette. Snag some from Amazon here.
Why? Because I think it’s adorable the way the beans nestle into the shells.
What really sends this pasta with cannellini beans dish over the top is the rosemary arugula pesto.
It only takes five minutes to make, plus you’ll have leftovers to use on crusty bread, grilled cheese, or to spread on deli sandwiches. Win-win!
Pin this to Pinterest and Share with Your Friends:
Alright, I’ve gotta run — time to go tackle some of my to-do list!
Here’s the Recipe!
White Bean Pasta with Rosemary Pesto Recipe
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion - peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 ounces orecchiette pasta
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 14-ounce can cannellini white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1/2 cup rosemary arugula pesto
- Crusty bread and fresh arugula for serving - optional
Instructions
- Set a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, place the onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until pureed.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan set over medium heat. Add the onion-garlic puree along with the red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened and lost their bite; about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook 1 or 2 minutes shy of al dente according to package directions (until there is just the slightest bite left in the center).
- When the pasta is nearly done cooking, add the tomato paste and beans to the onion-garlic mixture. Strain the pasta, reserving one cup of cooking water. Add half of the reserved cooking water to the tomato-onion mixture and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until well-combined and slightly reduced.
- Add the butter and drained almost-al dente pasta to the pan and toss well. Add enough of the remaining half cup pasta cooking water to mostly submerge the pasta. Cook until the pasta is tender and the sauce is very thick, another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir half of the pesto into the pasta; taste and add salt as desired. Serve hot, with crusty bread and fresh arugula (optional). Garnish with the remaining pesto.
Nutrition
Thanks for this recipe. The rosemary-arugula pesto is phenomenal! For the tomato -bean sauce, I recommend adding the tomato paste to the onion-garlic puree and allowing it to caramelize a bit before adding in the white beans (and a small amount of water). That made it really rich and flavorful. We’ll make this again!
I love the Rosemary Pesto. I grow lots of rosemary in my garden and I love using it in recipes. This pasta looks delicious. I could eat pasta every night if I let myself. It’s the best (my comfort food). This pasta looks so good.
I’d bookmarked this recipe ages ago and I finally made it for dinner last night. My roommate and I both enjoyed the dish, but agreed that it needed a little more seasoning, The white beans could have benefited from a longer cooking time, too.
This pasta sounds amazing. I love your recipe for Arugula Rosemary Pesto. Fantastic!