Creamy tomato basil pasta - is a quick and super simple vegan pasta dish. Prepared in a food processor (or blender) in less than 15 minutes.

Creamy tomato basil pesto pasta recipe for those days when you want your food ready in minutes. Or when you actually want to order food, but know that it's cheaper and healthier to make it yourself. Or maybe just lazy like I am some days.
Hey, everybody has those days. Don't judge.
How to make tomato basil pasta?
For this recipe, you will need a high-speed blender or a food processor. It works best with a high-speed blender because your pasta sauce will be creamier. But it´s okay to use a food processor too. In a food processor your pasta sauce is going to be a bit more grainy, but still delicious.
Tips:
- To make the sauce creamier, soak sunflower seeds for a couple of hours or overnight.
- Cashew nuts can be substituted for sunflower seeds. (In that case, this dish won't be nut-free)
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free pasta.
Start with cooking your pasta. For the pasta, follow the directions on the package.
For the pasta sauce, add sunflower seeds (pre-soaked if possible), sunflower oil, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and black pepper to taste, juice of one-half lemon, and a handful of fresh basil leaves, in a food processor or a high-speed blender. Blend for a couple of minutes, until smooth.
When pasta is finished boiling, drain and pour the tomato basil sauce over and stir to combine.
Other pasta recipes you might like to try, this quick and easy pesto recipe, Garlic alfredo with zucchini pasta, Creamy chanterelle mushroom pasta, or Zucchini pasta with creamy cashew bell pepper sauce.
RECIPE
Creamy tomato basil pasta
Ingredients
- 250 gr (0,5 lbs) fusilli pasta
- 1 cup (2,4 dl) sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 cup (2,4 dl) crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp salt
- pinch of black pepper
- ½ lemon, juice
- a handful of fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions.
- While pasta is cooking, add sunflower seeds, oil, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and basil in a high-speed blender or a food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- Taste and add more salt or basil if needed, and blend again.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the pesto in a large bowl.
- Top with sunflower seeds for some crunchiness and garnish with basil leaves.
If you like this pasta recipe, please leave me a comment. You can also find me on Instagram and Pinterest.
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