Creamy Pesto Rutabaga Pasta
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Published Jun 24, 2015, Updated Sep 21, 2021
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A healthy take on regular pesto pasta, this side dish is made with rutabaga noodles, fresh pesto and almond milk. It takes only 15 minutes and tastes absolutely delicious!
Guess what? I’ve been on a spiralizing kick (surprise, surprise) and just recently discovered a new veggie that makes wonderful noodles — rutabaga!
I would have never thought to make rutabaga noodles, but after trying the rutabaga noodles with roasted mushroom pistou meal from hungryroot, I was hooked and knew I wanted to recreate something similar.
I’m uncertain why, but I’d actually never purchased a rutabaga before and honestly didn’t know if my local grocery store even carried them. Lucky for me, Whole Foods had a whole bin of them right next to the other root veggies.
Speaking of other root vegetables, through Google I’ve learned that “yellow turnip” is another name for the rutabaga but turnips and rutabagas are not the same thing. Rutabagas are larger, have rough, gnarly looking skin and are yellow-fleshed while turnips are smaller, have smooth skin and a white flesh. Rutabagas are also a bit sweeter than turnips. All this said, I haven’t tried this recipe with turnips (yet), but I bet it would work just fine if you can’t find rutabagas.
Okay so more about the recipe. I’m pretty excited about it because it tastes fantastic, requires minimal ingredients (about 7) and only takes about 15 minutes to make.
The three star ingredients — rutabaga, fresh pesto and Almond Breeze Almondmilk.
Once sautéed with the onions and almond milk, the noodles come out with an al dente texture. Add the pesto sauce, some tomatoes and a hint of spice from crushed red pepper and you’ve got yourself a healthy, creamy pasta side dish that can be paired with just about any protein you’d like.
I actually ended up eating one serving of the pasta paired with grilled chicken and then ate the second serving cold, straight from the fridge the next day for a snack. It tasted great both ways!
I didn’t grow up eating pesto so it’s a relatively new sauce for me. Apparently I have made it before (which I had totally forgotten about… glad the blog reminded me!), however it’s never been something I make or use regularly.
But oh my gosh, that might have to change! After buying a container of fresh pesto for this recipe, I can totally see the appeal. It’s so flavorful, rich and aromatic. I think I might quickly turn into one of those crazy pesto-loving people that I never understood before. Gah! I can’t wait to experiment with it more and perhaps even make a homemade version sometime soon. If you have any amazing pesto recipes – for the actual sauce or applications – feel free to send them my way. 🙂
Creamy Pesto Rutabaga Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 Tablespoon oil, avocado, coconut or olive oil will work
- 2 Tablespoons red onion, chopped
- 1-2 rutabagas, peeled (should make about 3 cups of noodles)
- 1/3 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almondmilk
- 2 Tablespoons freshly prepared pesto
- 1/3 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
- crushed red pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Use a spiralizer to create rutabaga noodles.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add spiralized rutabaga noodles to the skillet and sauté for 2 additional minutes.
- Add almond milk, cook for 2-4 more minutes or until the noodles have softened but still have a little crunch. Add pesto to the skillet and stir to combine. Add tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Remove from heat and serve. Store any leftovers in the fridge. You can eat them cold or reheat before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m so intrigued by pesto now! Are you a pesto lover? If so, do you make your own or buy it? What’s your favorite way to use it?
Which blade spiralizer did you get? I see there is a 3 blade and 6 blade option. I only have a hand spiralizer currently so they won’t fit in that.
Do you think I could substitute 1% milk? I just got back from the store and forgot the almond milk!
Definitely! That should work just fine. 🙂