Creamy Goat Cheese Lemon Pasta with Green Peas, Artichokes and Leeks

This creamy goat cheese pasta with green peas, leeks, lemon, and olives is an easy vegetarian pasta dish that the whole family is sure to love. You can customize it with any vegetables you have on hand, too! 

Happy, happy Monday to you all! I hope that you had a lovely weekend, especially if you were able to celebrate Mother’s Day with your mother or mother figure yesterday. I made a special breakfast of oat flour raspberry jam spiral buns (recipe coming soon) and my chocolate hemp smoothies, and an inspired version of my mom’s favourite Santa Fe Salad from Earls Restaurant with sweet potato tortillas and black bean dip for dinner. I was planning to make baked chocolate doughnuts for dessert, but I changed my mind at the last minute and made an incredible chocolate quinoa cake from the Quinoa 365 cookbook. I got that cookbook for Christmas in grade 11 (As an aside: I hopped on the quinoa bandwagon with such vivacity at age 16 that I ate quinoa for lunch pretty much every day for months… insert cringe emoji here- haha.), and I’m so glad that I’ve held onto it all these years. There are some amazing dessert recipes in it. I think I’m going to have to re-create that cake and post it here for you all to make! 

Other than the food, Mother’s Day was just lovely. My mom and I went on a mother daughter walk in the morning and then I spent most of the afternoon cooking and baking the dinner and dessert, and working out. I usually take Sunday off from working out but my body was craving a good burn, so I fit in a quick power strength and abs session before dinner. 

So that was that! The weekend always seems to fly by with all of the recipe development and photography I have been doing lately. I usually do most of it on the weekends, which I love and find so fulfilling. I don’t have much else going on since the stay at home order is still in effect in Ontario, and I can’t socialize with anyone outside of my own household. I am really grateful to have this blog to keep me occupied on the weekends, truthfully! 

creamy goat cheese pasta with artichokes and leeks: the details

Anyways, let’s get down to business with this recipe for creamy goat cheese pasta, shall we? It had been a hot minute since I had made anything with chèvre, and I have yet to share a recipe using it. It used to be my go-to goat cheese until I found an amazing goat feta from a local farm called Crosswind. I had forgotten how creamy and delicious that chèvre is… especially in a pasta dish. 

Chèvre melts into warm pasta and forms a creamy “sauce” with a little bit of reserved pasta cooking water. In this recipe, the creamy goat cheese pasta is mingled with leeks, garlic, herbs, artichokes, peas, and lemon juice and zest for a bright, vibrant, yet hearty and grounding pasta dish. 

ingredients you’ll need 

To make this vegetarian pasta recipe, you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, leeks, garlic, oregano, basil, chili flakes, sea salt, pepper, artichoke hearts in brine, pasta, green peas, chèvre, lemon juice and zest, olives, and additional fresh herbs to garnish. 

While I kept the veggies pretty simple, feel free to add any others that sound good to you! I served this pasta with a kale salad on the side so I didn’t want to add too many greens, but you could mix in some kale, spinach, bell peppers, or anything else that strikes your fancy. 

the method

Start by warming the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once warm, add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, five minutes. Add the garlic and cook five more minutes, or until the leeks are softened and browned to your liking. Mix in the oregano, basil, chili flakes, several twists of ground black pepper, and an additional pinch of sea salt. Finally, stir in the artichokes and remove from the heat. 

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Once cooked, drain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add ½ cup of the reserved cooking water, the chèvre, the sautéed leeks and artichokes, the peas, and the lemon juice and zest. Stir to combine. The warm pasta and cooking water will cause the chèvre to melt and form a lovely, creamy “sauce.” If it seems too dry, add additional reserved pasta cooking water until desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with additional salt and/or lemon. 

Serve and top with olives and fresh herbs. 

a few frequently asked questions

This pasta recipe sounds delicious, but I am vegan. Any suggestions for a chèvre replacement? I’m glad you asked! I’ve included a cashew cream sauce alternative in the “Notes” section of the recipe card.

Any gluten-free pasta recommendations? Tolerant Foods makes a chickpea-based pasta that is quite good, and as an added bonus, it’s very rich in protein. Go-Go Quinoa and Prairie Harvest also make good quinoa/white rice and brown rice pastas, respectively. Note that these brands are widely available in Canada, but might not be in the US and other countries. Most well-stocked grocery stores now carry a variety of gluten-free pastas, though.

If you have any other questions about this recipe, feel free to ask them in the comments and I’ll get back to you with an answer as quickly as I can. 

more vegetarian pasta recipes 

• Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta Bake
• Lentil Mushroom Pasta Bake with Sweet Potato Cheese Sauce (Vegan)
• Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Pasta (With Chickpea Flour)

Lastly, I hope that you love this creamy goat cheese pasta with leeks, artichokes and peas as much as I do! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you have made! 

I’ll be back soon with a warm roasted mushroom, spinach, pear and walnut salad that goes really well with this pasta. 

Until then, enjoy!!

Creamy Goat Cheese Lemon Pasta with Green Peas, Artichokes and Leeks

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• Author: Allison
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This creamy goat cheese pasta with green peas, leeks, lemon, and olives is an easy vegetarian pasta dish that the whole family is sure to love. You can customize it with any vegetables you have on hand, too!

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Ingredients

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• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
• 1 ½ tablespoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
• ¼–½ teaspoon chili flakes, to taste
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (285 gram) jar artichoke hearts in brine, drained and quartered
• 4 cups uncooked rotini, penne, or fusilli pasta
• 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water
• 1 heaping cup shelled green peas, fresh or thawed frozen
• 4 oz (114 grams) chèvre (soft goat cheese), crumbled
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon (about 4 tablespoons of juice)
• Pitted kalamata olives or chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, for serving
• Fresh herbs, for serving

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Instructions

Start by warming the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once warm, add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, five minutes. Add the garlic and cook five more minutes, or until the leeks are softened and browned to your liking. Mix in the oregano, basil, chili flakes, several twists of ground black pepper, and an additional pinch of sea salt. Finally, stir in the artichokes and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Once cooked, drain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add ½ cup of the reserved cooking water, the chèvre, the sautéed leeks and artichokes, the peas, and the lemon juice and zest. Stir to combine. The warm pasta and cooking water will cause the chèvre to melt and form a lovely, creamy “sauce.” If it seems too dry, add additional reserved pasta cooking water until desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with additional salt and/or lemon.

Scoop into bowls and top with olives or sun-dried tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Notes

For a vegan pasta dish, make this cashew cream in place of the chèvre: In an upright blender, combine the following and blend until super smooth and creamy, adding additional water as needed to form a pourable sauce.

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for an hour and drained
• ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½-3/4 cup water, as needed

Pour the cashew cream over the warm pasta, toss to coat, then add the sautéed veggies, peas, and lemon zest. You might not need to add much more lemon juice since the cashew cream has a fair bit already.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Mediterranean