Basil Pesto Pasta

StovetopEasyPrep 10 minCook 12 minServes 4

Bright homemade basil pesto tossed with hot pasta — fresh, garlicky and ready in about 20 minutes, with no cooking beyond the noodles.

Ingredients

12 oz short pasta, such as penne or fusilli
2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted
2 garlic cloves
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp kosher salt

Steps

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain.
Blend the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a food processor, pulsing while drizzling in the olive oil until a coarse sauce forms.
Toss the hot pasta with the pesto, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time until every piece is glossy and coated.
Taste, adjust salt and lemon, and serve at once.

Serve with: cherry tomatoes, torn mozzarella and crusty bread.

Never heat pesto hard in the pan — high heat dulls the basil. Toss it with hot pasta off the heat instead.

Find this recipe in the Pasta section on the RecipeDelish home page, where you can scale it, print a clean PDF, download the shopping list and use cook mode.

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