Pasta with Pesto Recipe
Author:
Thomas Sixt is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.
Here I show you pasta with pesto , in the original spaghetti pesto alla genovese , because good pasta always works!
Whether it’s lunch or dinner, a pasta dish tastes good at any time of the day.
I know the original from Italy, served with basil pesto, boiled green beans and diced potatoes.
Please don’t forget the finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino!
So that you can inspire your guests with something new, I’ll add something… please try fresh and crispy fried basil chips as a topping on the pasta.
WOW – that bangs on the palate 🙂
This great dish tastes warm and cold as a pasta salad.
Have you just discovered a new favorite recipe?
Make everyone happy today…
Good luck and bon appetit!
Table of Contents
1. Recipe Pasta with Pesto
Pasta with Pesto
Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.
Prepare simple instructions for Spaghetti Pesto alla Genovese.
Ingredients
| 100 | g | basil pesto |
| 15 | Pieces | cherry tomatoes |
| 1 | tbsp | Olive oil |
| 2 | Pinches | primal salt |
| 3 | Pinches | black ground pepper |
| 2 | Pinches | brown can sugar |
| 10 | Pieces | basil leafs |
| 100 | ml | Sunflower oil |
| 2 | Pieces | big potatoes |
| 150 | g | fine green beans |
| 80 | g | parmesan |
| 300 | g | spaghetti (My insider tip: Linguine) |
Equipment
Instruction
Prepare pesto
The pesto is the most important ingredient in this preparation.
–> For making basil pesto yourself you will find a step-by-step cooking school here in the food blog.
-> You could surprise your guests and prepare a carrot green pesto .
-> Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made pesto in an Italian specialty shop.
Prepare tomatoes
–> Wash the cocktail tomatoes, dry them and place them in a fireproof dish.
–> Season with olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar.
–> Caramelize the tomatoes in the oven at hot air level 220°C for 20 minutes.
Prepare basil
–> Pick off the dry basil leaves.
Herb chips
–> Fry the basil leaves in hot sunflower oil until crispy.
Remember this way of cooking.
You can also prepare parsley, lovage or sage as herb chips.
Provide chips
–> Place the freshly fried herb chips on a plate lined with kitchen paper and season with salt.
Set aside to serve.
Prepare vegetables
–> Peel the potato and cut into 0.5-1 cm cubes.
–> Clean the beans and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
Prepare vegetables for blanching.
Potato cubes
–> Blanch the diced potatoes in boiling salted water until al dente and then place in a sieve.
Prepare beans
–> Blanch the beans in boiling water.
Prepare cheese
–> Finely grate the Parmesan or Pecorino and set aside.
Prepare vegetables
-> Provide prepared, cooked beans and potato cubes.
Cook noodles
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water.
–> The pasta cooking water may taste like sea water.
–> I always add a little more oil to the cooking water.
This keeps the noodles from sticking together after cooking.
Complete vegetables
–> Mix the cooked beans and potato cubes with half of the pesto in the pan and heat up.
Finish tomatoes
Take the cooked tomatoes out of the oven.
-> Prepare some nice tomatoes for decoration.
-> Carefully crush the remaining tomatoes with the slotted spoon or press them down for a nice overall picture.
Drain noodles
Drain the “ al dente ” cooked spaghetti and prepare to serve.
–> The term “ al dente ” describes the consistency of cooked pasta that is still firm to the bite.
The pasta is cooked, but not too soft, sticky or overcooked.
The term al dente is used internationally.
Marinate pasta
-> Add the well-drained spaghetti to the hot potatoes and beans with pesto and mix.
-> Add the crushed tomatoes and the tomato juice and mix gently.
–> Add pesto to taste.
Serve
–> Prepare warm plates. You can heat the plates in the microwave or in the oven at 80°C.
–> Arrange the noodles with the vegetables on the plate.
-> I use a large ladle and a meat fork to serve the pasta.
–> I turn the noodles with the meat fork and use the ladle to shape and transfer to the plate.
-> Decorate the pasta dish nicely with the decorative tomatoes, freshly grated Parmesan and basil chips and serve quickly.
Courses
Cousine
Keyword
2. Calories and Nutritional Values
3. Tips and New Ideas For Pasta With Pesto
You can make your own basil sauce for this dish or use a store-bought one.
I’ll tell you a secret:
In every German city there is an Italian specialty shop, where the pesto tastes best.
You can recognize good pesto by its green color.
Preserved basil pesto is always gray and I only use it in emergencies.
You can find my recipe for pesto with basil elsewhere.
At wild garlic season you can prepare a wild garlic pesto. Another exciting variant is the carrot green pesto .
Good basil pesto is wonderfully fresh and green, not grey!
Tip from chef Thomas Sixt
4. Typical Ingredients For Spaghetti Pesto alla Genovese
So that my dish is colorful and not just green pasta on the plate, I always combine my spaghetti with basil pesto with caramelized tomatoes.
Green beans and diced potatoes are also prepared in a classic, original way.
First, marinate the tomatoes in a bowl with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar and place in the oven. Hot air level at 220°C and 20 minutes is ideal.
Cut the potatoes into fine cubes, clean and cut the beans. Blanch the vegetables in boiling salted water one after the other until al dente and then set aside.
5. Highlight Tip For Pasta With Pesto, Add Crunchy Herbs
As a special kick, I like to add crispy fried herbs to the prepared pasta.
I briefly fry the lovingly plucked basil leaves in hot sunflower oil.
If you want to try that too, please keep a lid over the pot after you put the leaves in.
The fat splatters a little because the herbs contain a lot of water.
The magic only lasts a few seconds.
Then you can watch the herb leaves crunch and before they get too dark, please remove them from the fat swimming pool.
Then the crispy herb leaves are quickly drained on kitchen paper.
Now is the perfect time to season with salt. The herbs are now ready and waiting to be served.
You can integrate crunchy herbs as a topping into your everyday cooking. Also works with thyme, rosemary, parsley and lovage.
Herb kick tip from chef Thomas Sixt
6. Put Pasta With Pesto Perfectly On The Plate
Did you notice? We prepare everything in order, then it is sure to succeed!
Vegetables blanched and in the pan, pesto sauce ready, fried herbs are ready to serve.
This is a good moment to warm up plates and you can now cook the pasta.
Boil the water and season generously with salt. The pasta water may taste like sea water! Another tip:
I season the pasta water with salt and olive oil. I learned that from Mamma Rosa. Discussion pointless, please use oil when cooking dried pasta.
Pasta cooking oil tip from chef Thomas Sixt
I mix the prepared beans and diced potatoes with some basil pesto so that the vegetables taste the same.
Now my spaghetti is almost done, in the meantime grate some parmesan.
Drain the al dente cooked spaghetti well, then add to the pan with the vegetables and mix quickly with a good portion of pesto.
I add some tomatoes and the stock from the tomatoes, it gives extra flavor and refreshes the dish.
Serve quickly on hot plates and decorate with Parmesan, basil leaves and tomatoes. Enjoy your meal!
7. More Pasta Cooking Tips
Veal Chop
Porterhouse Steak
Pork Loin
Truffle Pasta
Chervil Soup
Crayfish
Stuffed Pancakes
Apple Pancake
Pancake Batter
Grandma’s Beans In Tomato Sauce
Lobster
Lemon Cake
Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers
Below you can write to me directly.
Please don’t forget the star rating on the recipe, 5 stars means you liked it!