Looking for another meatless meal? This one is SO terribly easy!
Even better, if you have an Instant Pot you can throw this together in no time – it’s perfect to take to a potluck or as a dish to pass at church.
This year we decided to grow Basil – but it hasn’t grown enough yet that we can actually use it to make our own Pesto – so until it does, we pick up our Pesto at Costco.
You can find the 22 oz Kirkland Brand for just $7.99 – for most families it would probably be too much – but for us it seems to go quite fast. Thankfully all of our kids like Pesto – on crackers, spread on bread, on their egg omelets, and in pasta.. so we are able to use it up before it goes bad.
Pesto at Costco is the Kirkland Signature Basil that uses 100% Genovese Basil from Italy, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Romano and Pine Nuts. Genova is Genoa – the Italian port city where Pesto originated. Not only does Costco’s Pesto have more fiber and protein than other varieties we have tried, it’s $.36 per oz and relatively inexpensive compared to buying it elsewhere.
It’s refrigerated and has a use by date stamped on the side. Even if you can’t use all 22 oz, you could easily freeze the rest of your pesto so that you can enjoy it at a later date without having to feel rushed to create dishes with it, especially if there are 2-3 of you in the house.
- 12-16 oz of Organic Pasta
- 1/2 - 3/4 C. of prepared Pesto
- 1/2 - 3/4 C. Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 Tsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Basil or, 2 drops Basil Vitality Essential Oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Cut the Cherry Tomatoes in half, and toss with the 2 Tbsp Olive Oil, and Basil in a separate bowl - let it while you make the pasta.
- In your Instant Pot, pour the 12-16 oz Pasta in the dry pot.
- Add 2 1/2 C. water (just enough that it barely covers the pasta).
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, lock it and set the pot to Manual for 6 minutes (high pressure).
- Once the pot beeps, release the pressure, turn the pot to "OFF" & drain any excess water off the pasta (should not be much!)
- Add the Pesto to the pasta and mix well.
- Pour the Cherry Tomatoes into the pasta along with the Olive Oil & Basil they were marinating in.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste, and serve.
- Don't have an Instant Pot? You can make the pasta on the stove, too. Once cooked, then drain and keep warm until you add the pesto.
While you can use fresh Basil or dried Basil to marinate the cherry tomatoes, we used Basil Vitality Essential Oil from Young Living – in fact, we have a good majority of the Vitality line of oils, which are great to incorporate into your cooking and baking.
No kitchen should ever be without Basil Vitality! We would not recommend any other brand of Essential Oils – Young Living takes such great care and pride in their oils and has a thorough Seed to Seal Pledge – not to mention they own their own fields (nobody else can say that!)
Checkout more recent Instant Pot Recipes… see 10 Reasons why we invested in an Instant Pot, and find the BEST Instant Pot Accessories to have for Instant Pot Owners!
