Description

My kids really love my BEEFY MUSHROOM PASTA and they also love any time I add PESTO to a recipe, so I decided to combine the two.

Now, in my little veggie garden, the basil has overtaken EVERYTHING, so I have a ton, and it’s easy for me to whip up homemade pesto (thanks to the food processor, it only takes about two minutes!). If you don’t have an overgrowth of basil and want to make things extra easy, just use store-bought pesto.

Either way, this is a very simple meal to get on the table on even the busiest school nights.

Enjoy! xx

Ingredients

Scale

For the homemade pesto:

about 2 cups of fresh basil leaves
4 cloves of garlic
½ cup of almonds (I use slivered, plain almonds)
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
salt and pepper

Or you can use about 8 to 12 ounces of store-bought pesto.

Other ingredients:

1 pound of a short cut pasta
2 pounds of ground beef
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 red onion, chopped
2 pints of your favorite mushrooms (we love sliced cremini)
salt and pepper
½ cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese (plus a bit for garnishing)

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Instructions

In your food processor, add your basil leaves, garlic, almonds and Parm. Place the lid carefully on top and turn it on. As your food processor is going around, slowly drizzle EVOO down into the feeder tube at the top until your pesto reaches your desired consistency. (You can stop it mid-way and test it out to see.) After it reaches your desired consistency, stir in a pinch of both salt and pepper.
Next, bring a pot of water up to a boil. Drop your pasta and cook to al dente (about 6 minutes or so).
Meanwhile in a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown up your ground beef until crumbly in a big drizzle of EVOO. Once browned and crumbly, add in your chopped red onion and your mushrooms and allow this to sauté. (Do not add your salt and pepper yet or it will take your mushrooms longer to brown.)
Once your onions are tender and mushrooms are browned, add in a big pinch of both salt and pepper. Stir your pesto into the ground beef and mushroom mixture. Stir everything together.
Drain your pasta and add the hot pasta to the beef and mushroom mixture. Stir all together and then you’re ready to plate. Sprinkle a bit more Parm on each plate and serve.

Notes

You can absolutely substitute store-bought pesto for homemade. You’ll need between 8 and 12 ounces. We use a gluten-free pasta to make this a g-free meal. This meal is really easy to double as well!