Pesto Pasta & Vegetables

This pesto pasta is built on a combination you don’t see often enough: sauteed leeks, sun-dried tomatoes, and chopped hard-boiled eggs tossed with shell pasta and basil pesto. Every ingredient brings something different to the bowl.

Leeks do the work that onions usually handle, but with a sweeter, more delicate flavor that doesn’t overpower the pesto. Cooking them until tender in olive oil mellows their bite and turns them silky. Sun-dried tomatoes add chewy, concentrated sweetness and the olives bring a briny counterpoint.

The hard-boiled eggs are the protein here, and they add a creamy richness when they break apart slightly as you stir everything together. It’s an old Italian trick for making a vegetarian pasta feel more substantial without adding meat.

Kitchen Tips

• Slice the leeks and wash them well in cold water. Leeks trap sand between their layers, and gritty pasta is a meal-ruiner.
• Toss the pesto in off the heat or on low heat only. High heat turns pesto dark and bitter.
• Use the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar as part of your cooking oil. It’s infused with tomato and herb flavor.
• Add the eggs gently and stir briefly. You want visible chunks, not egg crumbles.

Variations

• Add grilled chicken or shrimp for a non-vegetarian version with more protein.
• Use arugula pesto instead of basil pesto for a peppery, sharper flavor.
• Swap pasta shells for orecchiette or penne, both of which hold pesto in their curves.