Basil Pesto

One of my favourite things in this world is pasta.  And it is a good thing too because apparently a lot of restaurants think that if your vegetarian you must love pasta as that is usually the default vegetarian dish on the menu.  I am not whining too much about it, I would just like another choice or two sometimes.

But I digress.

Generally when we have pasta for dinner it is a tomato based sauce, and although I love pesto, I have never made it.  Shocking, I know.  But that has changed my friends as a few weeks ago we made this pesto, with a little adjustment, and have made it three times since.  And it ALWAYS tastes better the next day.

Although the below picture does not show pine nuts, because we forgot them on this occasion which was very blasphemous of us, you need some of them, plus basil, garlic, parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper and we also add a little bit of spinach and/or rocket depending on what we have on hand.

Place the basil, spinach/rocket, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper into a blender or food processor and get the motor running.

Gradually pour in the olive oil until you have a nice smooth paste, scraping down the sides of the jug/bowl as needed.

In the mean time, have your pasta cooking and before getting rid of all of the water, keep about half a cup.  Drain the rest of the water and return the cooked pasta to the pot.  Mix some/all of the water into the pesto to help the sauce bind to the pasta as well as thicken it slightly due to the starch from the pasta.  You can use as much or as little as you like, until you have your desired consistency.

Pour the pesto over the pasta and gently stir it through.  Spoon into bowls and serve with some garlic bread (you have to have GB with pasta, it’s law… well in this house).

Print Recipe

Basil Pesto

Adapted from Taste.com.au.

Course

Main, Pasta

Cuisine

Vegetarian

Servings

serves

Ingredients

• 2 cups basil
• 1/2 cup baby spinach and/or rocket
• 60 g Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water reserved from cooking the pasta

Course Main, Pasta Cuisine Vegetarian Servings serves Ingredients 2 cups basil 1/2 cup baby spinach and/or rocket 60 g Parmesan cheese grated 2 cloves garlic 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted salt and pepper 1/3 cup olive oil 1/2 cup water reserved from cooking the pasta

Instructions

1. Place the basil, spinach/rocket, parmesan cheese, garlic cloves, pine nuts, salt and pepper into a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle.
2. Start the blender to start grinding the ingredients. Gently pour in the olive oil whilst the motor is running.
3. Stop the blender and scrape down the sides of the jug and continue to blend until everything is chopped.
4. Cook the pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the water prior to draining the pasta. Return the cooked pasta to the pot.
5. Pour as much of the water as required into the pesto and blend until you reach the desired consistency. Stir the pesto through the pasta and spoon into bowls.