Name: Angel Hair Pasta, Pesto, and Chili salsa
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 oz. angel hair pasta; 1/2 tsp. salt; 2 tbsp fresh basil pesto; 1 tsp olive oil; 1/4 cup fresh chili salsa

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Makes one serving.

Bowl of angel hair pasta, pesto and chili salsa.

Bowl of angel hair pasta with pesto and chili salsa.

This dish is so quick, easy, and delicious. You too may feel guilty when you prepare it. This one bowl meal is perfect when you’re in a hurry.

Pasta, Pesto, and Salsa. The Perfect Combination.

Why do I feel guilty about this dish? For starters, I get the basil pesto and chili salsa from the deli section at the market. There are excellent recipes for these items in the cookbook The Joy of an Empty Pot, so I generally make these from scratch. After all, I am a cook, right? But that was not the case for this recipe. I had run out of our fresh pesto sauce and I did not have any leftover salsa in the fridge. But I was hungry, actually ravenous, after coming back from a long day in town. So I needed something tasty, filling, and quick to eat. I chose angel hair pasta because it only takes 5 minutes too cook. Then I added the basil pesto because I love basil and it only takes a few seconds to stir it into the pasta. When I returned the pesto to the refrigerator, the chili salsa from the deli was staring me in the face. It was begging to be added to the bowl. I figured why not? It wasn’t Italian, but it was made with tomatoes, which was close enough for me.

Angel Hair Pasta Basil Pesto chili Salsa olive oil

Ingredients for making angel hair pasta, pesto and chili salsa.

So where is the pleasure? The pleasure is in its simplicity and the eating. This combination is very satisfying and easy to prepare. If you are a Type A personality, you could probably prepare this dish, enjoy the results, and clean up your mess in under 30 minutes.

If you would like to make your own fresh basil pesto, please check our recipe for Fresh Basil Pesto with Walnuts located here.

Ingredients:

3 ounces Angel Hair Pasta
(slightly less than ¼ lb.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons fresh basil pesto
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup fresh chili salsa

Instructions:

1. Start out by filling a 2-quart saucepan with warm water, leaving enough room for the pasta. Then place over high heat and bring to a boil. Slowly stir in the 1 teaspoon salt and gently add the Angel Hair Pasta.
2. Stir frequently to keep the pasta from sticking together. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Drain the pasta when done and return to the saucepan.
3. Add the 2 Tablespoons fresh basil pesto and 1 teaspoon olive oil.
4. Quickly stir together until well blended.

Adding angel hair pasta to pot of boiling water

Fill a 2-quart saucepan with water & bring to a boil. Stir in salt and Angel Hair Pasta.

Angel hair pasta cooking in pot of boiling water.

Stir frequently and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and return to saucepan.

Add the fresh basil pesto and olive oil to the pasta in the pot.

Quickly stir together until well blended.

5. Finally, place the pasta in a bowl and add the ¼ cup fresh chili salsa on top. Serve.

The amounts of pesto and fresh salsa are very flexible. Add more pesto and/or fresh salsa if you like. My preference is to add a little more of the salsa. As far as I am concerned, you can never have too much salsa.

Bowl of angel hair pasta, basil pesto, and chili salsa.

And that’s it. Pretty easy, right? For a larger meal, you could probably prepare a quick salad and heat a roll while preparing the noodles.

Suggestion:

If you like this dish, you may also like Kale Potato Soup. It takes a little longer to prepare, but it has much fewer calories and it makes 6 servings.

5 from 1 vote

Angel Hair Pasta, Pesto, and Chili salsa

Angel Hair Pasta, Pesto, and Chili salsa is quick, easy, and delicious. This one bowl meal is perfect when you’re in a hurry.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword angel hair pasta, basil pesto, chili salsa, Italian, Mexican, one bowl, pesto sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 1

Calories 490 kcal

Ingredients

3 oz. angel hair pasta
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp fresh basil pesto
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chili salsa

Instructions

Fill a 2-quart saucepan with warm water, leaving enough room for the pasta. Place over high heat and bring to a boil.
Slowly stir in the 1 teaspoon salt and gently add the Angel Hair Pasta.
Stir frequently to keep the pasta from sticking together. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Drain when done and return to the saucepan.
Add the 2 Tablespoons fresh basil pesto and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Quickly stir together until well blended.
Place the pasta in a bowl and add the 1/4 cup fresh chili salsa on top.
Serve.
The amounts of pesto and fresh salsa are very flexible. Add more pesto and/or fresh salsa if you like.

Recipe Notes

If you would like to make your own fresh basil pesto, please check our recipe for Fresh Basil Pesto with Walnuts located here.

Comments

Len says

June 18, 2023 at 8:38 pm

Hot weather cooking? If you soak pasta for 1-1 1/2 hours it will cook in 3 minutes flat in boiling water.

- admin says
  
  June 22, 2023 at 1:39 pm
  
  Sounds interesting. I will have to try that some time. Thank you.
  
Pat Stacy says

May 5, 2018 at 8:05 pm

This looks delicious. And I use angel hair pasta for the same reason…it’s quick.

- Rev. McKinney says
  
  May 10, 2018 at 1:10 pm
  
  Thanks. I just had some today. The next best thing to angel hair pasta is vermicelli which only takes 7 minutes to cook.