Pesto Pasta
Pesto Pasta is insanely easy to make and has the best flavor. Using a homemade pesto sauce and your favorite pasta, this dinner comes together in minutes!
A HEARTY, FILLING PASTA DISH
So you know that basil pesto we made the other day? Don’t worry, I included the recipe here as well so you don’t have to flip back and forth. How about an amazing use for it? I promise you are gonna love this delicious and creamy pesto pasta. That fresh pesto really is the star. This is one of those dishes I love for lunch dinner or a midnight snack! It’s so fresh and filling and it reheats beautifully! The possibilities are endless! Now let me show you how to whip up restaurant-quality pesto pasta in just minutes!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Absolutely! You can use any precooked chicken or rotisserie chicken.
A nice crusty bread or breadsticks go perfect with this pasta dish. A big green salad is also wonderful!
Spaghetti is the most common (and what you see pictured), but you can use any pasta you have on hand. I think it would also be good with linguini or fettuccini.
No, if you don’t like pinenuts you can skip them. Or you can swap them out for other nuts like cashews, almonds or walnuts. You can even trade some of the basil leaves out for spinach to change up the pesto flavor. I’d swap out about 1/2 of the fresh basil for fresh spinach.
It helps the pesto sauce coat the pasta better and it helps loosen the sauce a bit.
Lemon juice helps prevent the pesto sauce from turning brown. It also brightens up the overall flavor as well.
Leftover pesto pasta should be stored in an airtight container and can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Don’t try to freeze it, it doesn’t turn out well.
The best way to reheat this is to place it in a covered, microwave safe dish and microwave in 30-second intervals. Stir between each interval and heat until warmed through. If the pasta starts to dry, drizzle on some olive oil or a splash of water.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- kosher salt – if regular salt is all you have that’s fine (it’s just to season the water with).
- spaghetti – you can use any pasta you enjoy with this one, I just always seem to have spaghetti on hand.
- fresh basil leaves – this is important for the pesto – fresh is what you want.
- garlic – you know I love jarred garlic but we really need the fresh garlic cloves here.
- toasted pine nuts – these are optional but add a great nutty background flavor .
- fresh lemon juice – this just brightens up the flavor and keeps that basil looking bright green but you don’t taste it as a separate ingredient – I don’t love the bottled stuff since it can give a strange flavor to the pesto.
- grated Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheeses – try to get the freshly grated stuff here, if you can’t find the pecorino then just use all parmesan.
- olive oil – I use extra virgin but you can use what you like – a light flavored olive oil is just fine.
HOW TO MAKE PESTO PASTA
Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling add a Tablespoon of kosher salt. Add the pasta and cook it according to the package instructions. Before draining the pasta, make sure to reserve about ½ cup of water from the pot. Drain the rest of the liquid from the pasta.
While the water is heating up, combine fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in a blender or mini-food processor. Pulse the mixture about 10-15 times until the ingredients are roughly chopped.
Next, add lemon juice, cheese, and olive oil to the blender or food processor with the basil mixture. Blend everything together until it is well combined, and then set it aside.
Add the pesto to the cooked pasta and toss to coat the noodles evenly. If the pesto is too thick, add the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to thin the sauce until all the noodles are covered in pesto.
Finally, top the pesto pasta with grated or shaved parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt for boiling water
- 1 pound of spaghetti
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves packed
- 2-3 cloves garlic cut into quarters
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice the juice from 1 large lemon
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- ½ cup olive oil
- grated or shaved parmesan for garnish
Instructions
- Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling add a Tablespoon of kosher salt. Sdd the pasta and cook it according to the package instructions. Before draining the pasta, make sure to reserve about ½ cup of water from the pot. Drain the rest of the liquid from the pasta.
- While the water is heating up, combine fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in a blender or mini-food processor. Pulse the mixture about 10-15 times until the ingredients are roughly chopped.
- Next, add lemon juice, cheese, and olive oil to the blender or food processor with the basil mixture. Blend everything together until it is well combined, and then set it aside.
- Add the pesto to the cooked pasta and toss to coat the noodles evenly. If the pesto is too thick, add the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to thin the sauce until all the noodles are covered in pesto.
- Finally, top the pesto pasta with grated or shaved parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- You can add any protein to this dish to round it out. Cooked chicken, shrimp, or even pork would be good.
- Feel free to trade out the pine nuts for other nut choices or ditch them altogether.
- You can use spaghetti or other pasta like linguini or fettuccini.
- If you want less basil, you can swap half the basil out for fresh spinach.
- Lemon juice helps give some yummy flavor to the pesto and helps the pesto to stay a beautiful shade of green.
- Using the reserved pasta water helps the sauce stick to the pasta easier.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in a container for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend trying to freeze leftovers and using the microwave in 30-second bursts is the best way to reheat leftovers.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
