RECIPE: Penne in Home-made Pesto Sauce

Naomi
Jul 6, 2015
2 min read

I realized the other day that it’s been awhile since I’ve made a basic, classic pesto. Most of the time I love experimenting with random ingredients, and enjoy seeing what creative deliciousness can result but this week I decided to revisit a classic.

Making pesto is more about the method than the recipe. The joy of pesto is that it’s very hard to go wrong here. Most ingredients blend pretty well together. And if by chance you do end up adding a little too much of this or that, you can always just balance it out by adding more of the other ingredients.

And while pesto is traditionally regarded as a “summer” recipe, you can enjoy it anytime regardless of season. More confusion is in deciding how to use the sauce. The best part is that this sauce involves no cooking and can be stored in a tight jar I the refrigerator for a long time. So I suggest making a large quantity and using it as and when required. There are so many ways to enjoy this creamy and dreamy sauce, below are a few! But today I’ll stick to a classic penne with pasta! Enjoy!

Possible uses of the sauce:

Pastas: Simply stir in the sauce after cooking pasta. Mix with veggies or meats/poultry/seafood.
Potatoes or gnocchi: For mashed potatoes or gnocchi, stir in after potatoes are cooked. Use to top baked potatoes after they are cooked.
Spread: Use as a spread on toasted slices of baguettes. Or spread atop slices of French bread, and pop under the griller until they are golden and bubbly.
Soups: Add a dollop of the sauce to your favourite soup just before serving.
Dips: Use as a dip for fresh veggies, chips, or breads.
Sauce it up: Use as you would any other sauce to add flavour (e.g. to top meats/poultry/seafood, to mix into meatloaf, salads, etc.)

Serves 4-5

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh basil
½ cup pine nuts roasted slightly (broken walnuts can also be used in same quantity)
6-7 cloves of garlic (the more the merrier)
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg (completely optional)
500gms penne (or any other pasta you prefer)

Directions:

Slightly roast the pine nuts to release the oils and get a nice toasty flavour.
In a blender, combine basil, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing, and then add in salt and pepper. Scrape down the sides and pulse once more to make sure it's well-blended.
In a pot boil some water. When the water comes to a boil, add salt and the pasta. Boil till the pasta is ‘aldente’ (slightly raw). Mushy pasta is the worst thing you can do to any pasta.
Drain the water from pot but retain just ¼ glass of the starch water.
Enjoy your pasta hot and garnished some basil or parsley!
Combine your pasta with the pesto sauce and add the retained water. This helps the pasta from sticking to each other and gives a good glossy look.