Italian Broccoli Marinara Pasta Salad

I’m gonna be honest, I really wasn’t sure what to call this. So I was walking through the produce section at the grocery a few days ago and passed the basil and then the pestos and got hit with the most random craving for something Italian with red sauce hit me. Oh, and I got some pine nuts too, those were a huge part of the inspiration.

I think the main takeaway that we can all get from this story is that you should never shop hungry. Hey, but I’m so happy about it on just this one occasion because it ended in me finding a new favorite pasta salad-ish thing.

Basically, I just wanted some veggies to go with my pasta and pine nuts. You feel me? I went to the fridge and gathered everything that sounded good. Then I threw it together in a bowl and yum. The final thing was a bed of fresh baby spinach, chopped basil leaves, leftover steamed broccoli, and some sprouts (you don’t have to add them I’m just weird). Then I seasoned all of that with onion salt and topped it all with some cold pasta noodles, marinara or pizza sauce, and my beloved pine nuts. Oh, and then I sprinkled it all with a ton of nutritional yeast.

Okay, tell me, do you like cold pizza or did you ever eat cold pizza as a kid? I’ve never actually been a huge pizza person in the first place but I do think I’ve had cold pizza at least a handful of times. Anyway, I imagine that this pasta salad would be something like that.

Now if you’re completely not into cold pizza, no worries, this can be served warm if you prefer. Simply toss it all together in a saucepan over medium low heat until it’s nice and warm.

Oh, and when I said I just used what was in my fridge, I meant it. If you have a bunch of different veggies or simply don’t like these, just use what you like.

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Italian Broccoli Marinara Pasta Salad

A pasta salad for all the spaghetti and cold pizza lovers. Simple, versatile, and delicious!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked pasta noodles rinsed
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• handful chopped basil leaves
• 1 cup steamed broccoli
• handful broccoli or clover sprouts optional
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 cup marinara sauce or pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• nutritional yeast to taste

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions and rinse in cold water.
2. Fill a bowl with spinach, chopped fresh basil leaves, sprouts, and season to taste with nutritional yeast, onion salt, and italian seasoning. Top with cooked pasta, marinara or pizza sauce, pine nuts, and more nutritional yeast.