Roasted tomatoes covered in pesto with the lightest hint of balsamic vinegar, this is a combination that promises to get your tastebuds excited any night of the week.

This is a straightforward and healthy recipe that can be made for a quiet night in or to impress even the pickiest of guests. Unlike typical pesto recipes, this one is vegan and nut-free, made with nutritional yeast for the cheesy flavour and sunflower seeds instead of nuts.

The entire recipe is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and loaded with nutrients so you can feel great about enjoying it whenever the craving calls.

Roasted Tomato Pesto Spaghetti

• Prep Time:  10 minutes
• Cook Time 50 minutes
• Total Time:  60 minutes
• Course: Dinner
• Cuisine: Italian
• Servings:  3 

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Chickapea Spaghetti

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, raw
• 1 Tbsp avocado oil + 1 Tbsp avocado oil, separate
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Pesto Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups fresh basil
• 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ lemon, juice of
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Lay cherry tomatoes out on a baking tray.
3. Drizzle them with avocado oil and sea salt.
4. Mix tomatoes well to fully coat them in oil and salt.
5. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes.
6. With 10 minutes left on the tomato timer, Prepare Chickapea Spaghetti to package instructions (heat 16 cups of water in a large pot over high heat until boiling. Add pasta, decrease heat to maintain a gentle boil. Stir and cook pasta for 7 minutes).
7. While pasta is cooking, add all pesto ingredients to a food processor (fresh basil, sunflower seeds, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil and water).
8. Process until it reaches a sauce texture with no chunks.
9. Set pesto aside.
10. Drain and rinse pasta with cool water.
11. Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat.
12. Add 1 Tbsp of avocado oil and the diced onion.
13. Cook for 5 minutes.
14. Remove the roasted tomatoes from the oven and add to the frying pan.
15. Mix tomatoes and onion well.
16. Stir in 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar, fry for 2-3 more minutes.
17. Toss the drained pasta with the pesto then when ready to serve, top each plate with the roasted tomato mixture.
18. Enjoy! 

Recipe Notes:

• This recipe may seem like a lot of steps, but they can be done at the same time to make the recipe faster.
• The tomato mixture can also be made the day ahead if you are short on time when serving it.
• Avocado oil is recommended for this recipe, but any vegetable oil with a high smoke point will work.
• If you like a thicker pesto, you can decrease the amount of water in the recipe. The water is used to make the pesto thinner and more spreadable while keeping it relatively low oil.
• The Amount of pesto made in this recipe is exact and will all be used to coat the spaghetti. It can, however, be simply doubled and then divided to keep half in the refrigerator to add to meals throughout the week.