Healthy Baked Pesto Rigatoni

Ingredients

• lb. whole wheat rigatoni
• -3 cup schopped heirloom tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used Asiago)
• pesto (recipe follows)
• cup sspinach
• cup kale
• cup basil
• 1/4 cup almonds or pine nuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• large clove sgarlic
• juice of1 lemon (optional)

Instructions

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. 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. 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.