Pesto Pasta Bake

5 from 6 votes

Pesto Pasta Bake is is easy to make! Combining homemade pesto with pasta, tomatoes and bocconcini then topped with a cheese layer.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian, Western

Keyword: pesto pasta bake

Servings:

Calories: 651kcal

Basil pesto: make the pesto by combining the basil leaves, pistachio nuts, garlic and pecorino romano in a food processor. Blitz for around 10 seconds to combine. Pour in the olive oil, blitz again then use a spatula to scrape down the insides of the bowl keeping the pesto down low. Use a teaspoon to taste the pesto, then add half of the lemon juice. Blitz then taste again then add the remaining lemon juice as desired.
Pasta: read and follow the instructions on the packet of pasta to cook it in a medium sauce pan of boiling salted water. Moments before it is al dente (a bit chewy still) use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of pasta water. Then use a colander to drain the remaining water and discard.
Combine: use a large sauté pan or bowl to combine the cooked pasta, pesto and ½ cup of reserved pasta water. Use a wooden spoon to toss and combine. Then add the sliced tomatoes and bocconcini balls to the pan. Stir again to combine.
Cheese: grate a layer of mozzarella cheese over the top of the dish then follow this by grating a layer of pecorino romano on top. Then place the dish into the preheated oven on the middle shelf for 10 minutes until the cheese melts to a lovely golden brown.
Garnish: once the cheese has melted, you can use oven mits to remove the baking dish from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Garnish with cracked black pepper and basil leaves. Provide forks and spoons for serving.

Note 1 - Reserved pasta water: I refer to taking out 1 to 2 cups of starchy pasta water before draining the penne. However, we only add ½ cup of this (125 ml) to the pasta and pesto. Leftovers can be handy to store in a jar in the fridge in a sealed, air tight container and used to juice up reheated portions.
Note 2 - Mozzarella and pecorino romano cheeses: if you are using blocks of these, don't worry about measuring to the exact amount I indicate, simply grate then sprinkle a layer of mozzarella over the top then repeat the same for the pecorino romano cheese.