Basil Pesto Pasta
This basil pesto pasta is a simple yet flavorful dish made with fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan. Tossed with a splash of pasta water for creaminess, it’s a quick and delicious way to bring summer flavors to your table.
Ingredients
Pesto sauce:
- 4 garlic cloves or roasted garlic cloves
- ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp chili pepper flakes
- 6 cups basil
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ lemon, zest only
Pasta:
- 1 lb pasta, such as linguine or fusilli
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup pasta water
- pesto sauce
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- To roast the garlic, take garlic cloves and drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat thoroughly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, turning it halfway. If they are smaller garlic cloves, perhaps you only need to roast them for 2 minutes. Just keep a close eye on them.
- If your pine nuts are not toasted already, then drizzle pine nuts with olive oil and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1-2 minutes until they turn a nice light golden brown.
- In a food processor, puree all the ingredients together, minus the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
- Transfer basil mix to a bowl, then add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix together
- Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the package. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt to pot of water. Make sure to save ¼ cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.
- Toss pesto sauce with cooked pasta, pasta water and parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 760kcal | Carbohydrates: 90g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 2828mg | Potassium: 497mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2004IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 249mg | Iron: 4mg