Italian Recipes With Pesto

This dish is absolutely no exception to that rule. It’s all about the fresh basil, of course, but when combined with Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic, and good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, it transcends into something magical. And it comes together in about 30 minutes!

We find that blanching the fresh basil first mellows the overall flavor of the pesto which works well with the cooked pasta.

You’re going to start off with 10 cups of fresh basil. That may seem like a lot, but like spinach, as it cooks, it wilts and reduces in size.

Italian Salsa Verde Pasta (sauce Verde)

EXPERT TIP: It only takes about 30 seconds to blanch the basil. To prevent the basil from continuing to cook, we recommend immediately transferring the blanched basil to an ice bath. We place a colander in a large bowl filled will water. Then add ice. The warm basil will melt the ice and then later, just remove the colander for easy removal of the basil. Be sure to squeeze out excess water and then pat the basil dry with paper towels.

EXPERT TIP: You’ll need to thin the mixture with a couple of tablespoons of the spinach/pasta water. Be sure to have your pasta cooking while you’re making the pesto, and remember to save about a cup of the water.

EXPERT TIP: We go with extra-virgin olive oil for our pesto pasta because it has a slightly lighter taste and texture, which works well against the flavorful basil and garlic.

Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe

EXPERT TIP: This also makes a wonderful pasta salad served warm or at room temperature. If serving as a pasta salad, we recommend using small pasta, such as penne, fusilli, or elbow.

Before tossing the pasta with the pesto, you’ll need to thin the sauce a little more with about 1/2 a cup of the spinach/pasta water.

Add all of the pasta, top with remaining pesto and little more Parmesan, and use a couple of large wooden spoons to toss until the pasta is fully coated.

Authentic Italian Pasta And Risotto Recipes

Pesto Pasta is a true Italian classic. This dish is just so fresh, and amazing in it's simplicity. It really is incredibly good. One of our favorites. Serve it warm as a main dish, or use a smaller pasta and serve it at room temperature for an amazing pasta salad.

Once you've finished blanching the basil, and transferred it to an ice bath, go ahead and your pasta cooking. Boil it in the same water that you blanched the spinach in. Remember to save about a cup of the pasta/spinach water.

Be careful not to add too much salt to the pesto. Hopefully, you have liberally salted your pasta water, so when you add some water to the sauce, you'll also be adding salt. Do a taste test and add more salt, if needed.

Basil Pesto Pasta: How To Make The Authentic Italian Recipe

We love serving this with long pasta, such as bucatini, spaghetti, or linguine. However, this also makes a wonderful pasta salad served at room temperature. If you're doing that, we recommend going with short pasta, such as penne, fusilli, or elbow.

Calories: 505 kcal | Carbohydrates: 59 g | Protein: 15 g | Fat: 14 g | Saturated Fat: 4 g | Cholesterol: 6 mg | Sodium: 140 mg | Potassium: 314 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 2 g | Vitamin A: 2175 IU | Vitamin C: 8 mg | Calcium: 187 mg | Iron: 3 mg

POST UPDATE: This recipe was originally published April 2015, but was updated with improved tweaks to the recipe, new tips, and photography, and a fabulous new video in June 2020!Here is how you make the best pesto pasta, perfectly coated in sauce for maximum flavor and tossed with juicy, quick roasted tomatoes and fresh baby mozzarella. Keep it vegetarian or add in some shrimp, grilled lemon chicken or this quick Italian baked chicken.

Pesto Pasta With Chicken Recipe

There has been quite a bit of roasted tomatoes and homemade basil pesto coming out of my kitchen lately. And I've been having so much fun finding different ways to use them up.

Earlier last week, I shared my 20-minute creamy pesto chicken. Many of you made it, doubling the sauce to toss in some pasta. Great idea!

But for days you're craving a straight up vegetarian pesto dinner, like my pesto lemon orzo soup or creamy pesto ravioli, today's recipe is for you! No chicken needed!

Trofie With Italian Pesto Sauce Stock Photo

This recipe is basically a bit a hybrid pasta situation that is summer's best in a bowl. Think caprese pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella (or burrata!), tossed in bright, homemade basil pesto.

Sure, you could throw small raw tomatoes in, but for the wow factor, go the extra mile and roast the tomatoes (which you can do ahead of time) so they're super tender and bursting with intense, concentrated flavor--an extra layer of deliciousness.

How hard can tossing a bit of pasta with a little pesto be?! Not very hard at all, but a few things for best flavor and to help preserve the beautiful bright green color and fragrant aroma of your basil pesto:

Pesto Cream Sauce

Yes, it's true that short and curvy pasta options like rotini and fussili, which I used in my earlier broccoli pesto pasta, do a great job holding on to as much of the sauce as possible. And broccoli pesto is a bit on the thicker side than what we have here. But today, I ended up using thin spaghetti because that's what I had on hand. Spaghetti is a great option for light oil-based sauces (like this earlier olive oil pasta) but works well in this recipe and makes for a fun presentation.

To make pesto pasta, you can go as simple as tossing your warm pasta with homemade pesto and a bit of the pasta cooking water (following my tips above). But if you like, turn it into a tasty vegetarian entree by adding some roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls. Here is the step-by-step:

Roasted tomatoes and homemade basil pesto can be made a couple of days ahead of time and saved separately in the fridge until needed. You can warm the already cooked tomatoes up in the oven while you cook your pasta. See my earlier quick roasted tomatoes recipe.

Tagliatelle With Eggplant, Pesto, And Cherry Tomatoes

Basil pesto will last in the fridge a good week, if stored properly in a tight-lid mason jar. See how to make basil pesto for recipe and tips.

Here's how to make the best pesto pasta, perfectly coated in sauce for maximum flavor! Add in juicy roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella for the perfect dinner.

Calories: 516.4 kcal Carbohydrates: 66 g Protein: 16.6 g Fat: 20.8 g Saturated Fat: 4.2 g Cholesterol: 10.1 mg Sodium: 412.2 mg Potassium: 526.9 mg Fiber: 4.9 g Sugar: 7.3 g Vitamin A: 2092.8 IU Vitamin C: 21 mg Calcium: 166.8 mg Iron: 1.6 mg

Creamy Vegan Pesto Pasta (30 Minutes!)

I'm Suzy; born and bred right on the shores of the Mediterranean. I'm all about easy, healthy recipes with big Mediterranean flavors. Three values guide my cooking: eat with the seasons; use whole foods; and above all, share! So happy you're here...Anyone can make a Pesto Pasta, but not everyone knows how to make apesto pastathat’s slick with plenty of pesto saucewithout adding tons of extra oil! Here’s how I make it.

If you’ve ever made pesto pasta and found that it a bit on the dry side, then tried to salvage it by adding more and more olive oil only to end up with an excessively greasy pasta, you’ll love the technique I’m sharing today:

It will thin out the pesto so it coats everything nicely and creates a glossy pesto sauce that coats every bit of pasta. The starch in the water emulsifies with the pesto, which simply means the fat in the pesto + starch in the water thickens. Just like when you shake up salad dressings – same thing. 🙂

Vegetarian Pesto Pasta

It’s the “proper” way to make pastas, a technique used in every Italian household and restaurants all over the world. Regular readers here are sick of reading about it – I write about it in every pasta recipe, from Shredded Beef Ragu to classic Bolognese, to Spaghetti Marinara!

And THAT is the secret to making a JUICY pesto pasta that’s slick with pesto sauce without adding tons and tons of extra oil!

You can make pesto pasta with any pasta your heart desires. And even in today’s recipe video, I say to use your favourite pasta.

Pesto Pasta With Italian Sausage

But I do have my preferences. My favourite is penne or ziti (which is just penne with a smooth surface). I find it’s the easiest to toss for even distribution and you get the “juiciest” pesto pasta.

Spaghetti and other thin(-ish) long strand pastas are my next favourite. I find that it’s not quite as easy to toss the pesto through and the more you work the pasta, the less saucy it becomes (though you just keep adding pasta cooking water, but there’s only so much you can add).

Twirls and other shapes with “crevices” rate lower just because there’s far more surface area so somehow, I just feel a bit pesto deprived.

Barilla Pesto Alla Genovese 190g

I say that pesto pasta is one of the simplest pastas to make, but I do have a few tips to