Creamy Pesto Pasta

We had this super easy, tasty pasta dish last week.  I love dishes where the only "cooking" is boiling some pasta.  You do need your blender for this.  When adding the broth to the cream cheese (Neufchatel) mixture, start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed; mine was a bit thin with the whole cup in there.  Also, next time I'd do 14oz. or so of pasta instead of a full pound, so there's more sauce. 

If you want meat with this, some lemon-garlic grilled chicken would be good.  We just had it with steamed, lemony-buttery broccoli.  I used the last of my beloved wagon-wheel pasta for this.  The kids loved this, and had the leftovers for lunch the next day.  I also used some homemade pesto I had stashed in the freezer.  See the original recipe for a fresh tomato topping recipe; we just topped ours with plain chopped tomatoes because of lazyness on my part. 

Creamy Pesto Pasta
adapted from A Little Less Meat

14 oz (or so) favorite short pasta shape (wagon wheels, radiatore, mini shells, etc)
1 cup veggie or chicken broth
6 Tablespoons (more or less) prepared basil pesto
8 oz. Neufchatel cream cheese (softened)

1.  Boil pasta according to package directions and drain.

2.  Meanwhile, combine the broth (start with a half cup; add more if desired), pesto, and softened Neufchatel in a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and toss to combine.  Top with fresh tomatoes if desired.

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