Classic pesto pasta with fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese. This dish is ready in 20 minutes and therefore it is also one of my best last minute dinner ideas! Do you like making pesto at home?
Who doesn’t love a good pesto pasta for dinner!
That dude who invented this delicious basil pesto pasta recipe ages ago deserves the Nobel price in the category taste buds. To me it’s the mother of all Italian pasta sauces and no doubt the most famous one worldwide.
Pesto Genovese
Pesto Genovese (from the Italian city of Genoa) is drop-dead simple to prepare in just a few minutes time if you have a blender close by!
Ready for a homemade pesto pasta?
Here we go!
It is amazing what flavor explosion you can create by combining just a few everyday ingredients. Just stunning! You can toast the pine nuts before adding them to the pesto. It gives it an extra slightly smoky touch and hearty flavor.
Homemade Basil Pesto
The original pesto was prepared using a mortar and pestle, so if you are brave enough, then go for it!
Nowadays it is very easy to find a good quality ready made pesto at your local supermarket or favorite Italian deli because it is a mainstream ingredient. But if you are in for an experiment yourself, try to make your own delicious pesto at home!
Whatever you do, use only the freshest ingredients.
Garlic
Are you not fond of a strong garlic flavor?
Then you can blanch the garlic for a few seconds just before blending them. Or remove the little (light green) core inside the garlic clove because that part apparently is the source of that strong and often overpowering garlic flavor.
Someone once advised me to replace half of the basil if you find that too strong and then add arugula instead to make your pesto a bit milder in flavor, a delicious idea that also works brilliantly because I tried it before!
Or just stick to the classic fresh basil version. I guess that it is needless to mention that fresh pasta is best friends with this basil pesto.
Recipes with Basil Pesto
Do you love recipes with basil pesto?
Then you should also check out my tortellini and basil pesto salad! Or how about my creamy avocado soup with shredded chicken and basil pesto! If you buy radishes, don’t throw away the leaves!
You can also make a beautiful radish pesto with them, check my chickpea and radish salad with radish leaf pesto!
It is a great side salad for chicken or pork!
Alternatives
I also made pasta with avocado pesto before!
Or how about a creative twist on a basil pesto?
Then you should try out a classic Sicilian red pesto called pesto trapanese with almonds, basil and tomatoes!
You might also like the French pistou, delicious in a vegetable soup!
Enjoy!
Classic Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
My classic basil pesto recipe or how to make the best pesto at home! Needless to say that fresh pasta is best friends with this basil pesto.
- 4 handfuls fresh basil
- 2 large garlic cloves chopped
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 3 oz parmesan cheese (85 g), grated
- ¾ cup olive oil (180 ml)
- pepper
- salt
Thoroughly rinse the fresh basil. Let it dry on a clean kitchen towel. Then add the basil and chopped garlicto a blender.
Pulse well until you get a rough crumble. Now add the pine nuts and the grated parmesan cheese. Season with a little pinch of pepper and salt.
Blend well into a crumbly puree. Then gradually add the olive oil.
- Pulse in between additions until you get the pesto consistency that you like best.
- In the end check the seasoning and add extra pepper, salt, parmesan cheese or pine nuts to taste if necessary. Put the freshly made basil pesto in the fridge until needed later on.
Classic Pesto Pasta Recipe with Homemade Basil Pesto
A classic pesto pasta recipe with fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese…
Ready in 20 minutes and because of that this recipe has been one of my best last minute dinners for years now!
I never heard any complaints before when serving it so I think I got a golden recipe waiting for you here below. Whenever I prepare pesto genovese spaghetti I always see a bunch of smiling faces when I look around the dinner table!
And of course a lot of satisfied grins when all plates are empty. With the usual question “if there is still something left”.
From Scratch
Basil pesto is a delicious pasta sauce to make at home from scratch!
Hey, don’t worry. I sometimes buy store bought pesto as well when I can’t find any fresh basil on time. Did you know that you can preserve fresh basil and homemade basil pesto in the freezer?
Do check out how to do that!
Anyway this basil pesto is just another fun recipe to make from scratch.
So here is it: a classic pesto pasta recipe for dinner tonight!
Dig in and enjoy this pesto pasta to the fullest.
Yum.
Easy Classic Pesto Pasta Recipe
Classic pesto pasta with fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese... Ready in 20 minutes so one of my best last minute dinner ideas!
- 9 oz dry spaghetti (250 g)
- 4 tbsp basil pesto
- freshly ground pepper
- salt
- Fill a large and high pan with cold tap water and season with a good dash of salt. Then place the pan over high heat until boiling. Add the pasta and cook it until tender.
Then drain the cooked pasta and transfer it back to the hot pan. Pour in the fresh basil pesto and stir well. Put the pesto pasta onto deep plates. Sprinkle with a last dash of freshly ground black pepper and salt. Serve hot.
Arugula Pesto Pasta
I love arugula.
Also known as rocket salad.
Or whatever you call that deliciously peppery kind of lettuce. If you do too then try this arugula pesto pasta! It is quite different in flavor from the classic basil pesto but you will love it as well. The color is pretty much the same, that is all.
But I also like the fresh grassy flavor this arugula pesto pasta has.
Flavor
This arugula pesto is a delicious pesto pasta sauce to make!
Hey, don’t worry. I sometimes buy store bought basil pesto when I can’t find any fresh basil on time. But homemade pesto is just so much more fun to make.
Dig in.
Enjoy!
Easy Arugula Pesto Pasta Recipe
- 9 oz dry spaghetti (250 g)
- 3 handfuls fresh arugula
- 1 handful fresh basil
- 2 medium garlic cloves peeled
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 3,5 oz parmesan cheese (100 g), grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
- Thoroughly rinse the fresh basil and arugula. Let both dry on a clean kitchen towel. Then add the basil to a blender.
- Blend well until you get a rough crumble. Add the arugula and the garlic cloves.
Now blend again. Then add the lemon juice, the pine nuts and the grated parmesan cheese. Season with a little pinch of pepper and salt.
- Blend well into a crumbly puree. Then gradually add some olive oil.
- Pulse in between additions until you get the pesto consistency that you like best.
Check the seasoning and add extra pepper, salt or lemon juice to taste if necessary. Put the freshly made arugula pesto in the fridge until needed later on. Fill a large and high pan with cold tap water and add a good dash of salt. Place the pan over high heat until boiling. Then add the pasta and cook it until tender.
- Drain the cooked pasta and transfer it back to the hot pan. Pour in the fresh arugula pesto and stir well. Scoop the pesto pasta onto deep plates. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese or pine nuts and a last dash of freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot.
Cilantro Pesto Pasta Recipe with Salted Pistachios
Have you ever had a craving for a classic basil pesto?
But then the moment you decide you will make some you realise that there’s no fresh basil, parmesan cheese or pine nuts in your pantry at all. And you don’t feel like going over to the nearest store because it is just too hot outside.
Or raining cats and dogs.
Well why not try to throw together a makeshift pesto then using slightly different ingredients for a change?
Pistachios
That is how this salted pistachio and cilantro pesto pasta recipe was born that day back then.
I love salted pistachios. A handful of those crunchy buggers are my favorite snack during the day so I always got an open bag of those somewhere laying around in my pantry.
I didn’t have any parmesan cheese to add to my pasta dish so if I am not mistaken here this pistachio pesto pasta is quite possibly vegan as well!
Enjoy!
Easy Cilantro Pesto Pasta Recipe
- 9 oz dry pasta (250 g)
- a handful fresh cilantro
- a handful fresh mint
- ½ tsp garlic paste
- a handful pistachio nuts peeled
- 2 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
- ¼ cup olive oil (60 ml)
- pepper
- salt
- Add the salted pistachio nuts to a clean blender and pulse them into a fine crumble for a couple of seconds.
- Then transfer the blended pistachios to a cup and put them aside until needed later on. Place a large pan filled with salted water over high heat until boiling and then add the pasta to it. Cook the pasta until tender.
- In the meantime add the fresh cilantro and mint to a blender.
- Blend a few times. Then add the olive oil. Blend again. Now add the garlic paste. Season with half of the lime or lemon juice.
- Add the pistachio crumble as well.
- Blend the pesto well and season it with pepper and salt. Blend again until you end up with a nice herb pesto. Then check the seasoning and add extra pepper, salt, garlic or lemon or lime juice to taste if necessary. Drain the cooked pasta and immediately add it back to the pan. Then drizzle it with the freshly made herb pesto.
- Stir the pesto pasta well. Scoop the pesto pasta onto deep plates. Finish with a last drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Serve hot.
Spinach Pesto Pasta Recipe with Almonds
And here is yet another pesto pasta recipe!
This time with fresh spinach and almonds. I know a few people who are not overly fond of the classic Italian basil pesto. So that sounds like yet another challenge for me to create a lighter alternative.
And a successful one as well it turned out in the and because the basil pesto haters around my dinner table loved it and the basil pesto lovers readily dug into their plate of spinach pesto pasta.
This dish can also be served as a little starter of course!
Peel Almonds
Hey, here is a little trick before cooking this spinach pesto recipe.
There is a very easy way to get rid of the brown skin around almonds. Boil them in hot water for 2 minutes. Then drain the almonds and rinse them under cold running tap water.
You can pinch out the white almond from its tough brown pocket! Well I like to toast the almonds in a dry pan with a little salt afterwards to dry them out and make them crunchy again.
Bitter
I wouldn’t recommend to use unpeeled almonds because that brown skin has a quite bitter aftertaste and all those brownish specks look quite unappetizing after you blend it in a creamy pesto.
That is something you don’t need in such a subtle pesto pasta recipe like this one.
Keep it simple and easy!
Enjoy!
Easy Spinach Pesto Pasta Recipe
- 9 oz dry spaghetti (250 g)
- 5,5 oz fresh spinach (155 g)
- 1 medium garlic clove chopped
- 4 tbsp almonds (peeled)
- 1 oz parmesan cheese (28 g), shaved
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
- Coarsely crush the peeled almonds. Rinse the spinach and drain on a clean kitchen towel. Then blanch the spinach in some salted boiling water for 1 minute until tender. Immediately drain the spinach and carefully squeeze out the excess water.
- Then transfer the blanched spinach to a blender. Add the chopped garlic, the grated parmesan and half of the crushed almonds. Season with a little pinch of pepper and salt. Blend the ingredients for a couple of seconds.
Add a little splash of olive oil and then blend again. Keep blending and adding olive oil until you end up with a slightly runny green pesto. Check the seasoning of the spinach pesto and add extra pepper or salt to taste if necessary.
Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water until tender and then drain it. Return the hot pasta to the pan and add the spinach pesto. Stir the pasta well.
- Then transfer the spinach pesto pasta onto deep plates. Sprinkle with a little extra salt and olive oil. Garnish with the rest of the crushed almonds and serve the pesto pasta hot.
