Healthy Pesto Baked Rigatoni

• whole wheat rigatoni↗1
• chopped heirloom tomatoes2
• water↗0.5 cup
• shredded cheese of choice0.5 cup

  I used Asiago

• pesto↗

  recipe follows

• spinach↗2 cup
• kale↗1 cup
• basil↗1 cup
• almonds or pine nuts↗0.75 cup
• olive oil↗0.5 cup
• Parmesan or Asiago cheese↗0.25 cup
• salt↗0.5 teaspoon
• large cloves garlic↗3
• juice of 1 lemon↗1

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Bring a large pot of water to boil. While the water is boiling, chop up the tomatoes – I just cut the little ones in half. Add the pasta to the water and cook according to package directions.

2. 2

   While the pasta is cooking, place all the pesto ingredients in the food processor until smooth. You may have to push the spinach down periodically to get everything moving. I had to do this in two batches because my food processor is very small. You should end up with 2 heaping cups of pesto.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cooked noodles with the chopped tomatoes, pesto, and enough water to make it a little saucy. Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Cover loosely with well-oiled aluminum foil and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.