Pesto Pappardelle
Pesto pappardelle is a quick and easy recipe perfect any night of the week! With al dente pasta and basil pesto it only takes 15 minutes!
Servings: 4
Calories: 751kcal
Equipment
- 1 Microplane zester to grate the cheese
- 1 Food processor to make the pesto
- 1 Heat proof jug to scoop the pasta water out
- 1 Colander to drain the pasta
- 1 Medium Saucepan to cook the pasta
- 1 Kitchen Tongs to toss the pesto, pappardelle and pasta water
- 1 Wooden spoon as above
Ingredients
- 3 cups basil leaves loosely packed, stems removed
- ⅓ cup pistachio nuts
- 2-3 cloves fresh garlic
- ½ cup pecorino romano cheese freshly grated using a microplane zester
- ⅓ cup/80ml olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water
- 500 grams/16 oz pappardelle pasta
Instructions
- Basil pesto: add the basil leaves, pistachio nuts, garlic and pecorino romano cheese to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a couple of times to combine, then drizzle in the olive oil. Blitz again then use a spatula to scrap down the insides of the bowl, keeping the pesto low, near the blade level. Next take a teaspoon and taste the pesto. Then add half of the lemon juice. Blitz to combine then add the remaining lemon juice if desired.
- Pappardelle: read and follow the instructions on the pasta to cook it in a large pot of boiling salted water. Moments before it is ready, use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of the water. Then use a colander and drain the rest of the pasta water.
- Pesto and pasta: add the cooked pasta to a large pan (no heat required) then dollop in the pesto, pour in ½ cup of the reserved pasta water then use a wooden spoon and kitchen tongs (one in each hand) to toss and combine the pappardelle, pesto and pasta water.
- Garnish: generously garnish the pasta by grating some additional pecorino romano cheese over the top, sprinkling in some cracked black pepper and adding a few fresh basil leaves. Provide forks and spoons for serving.
Notes
- Note 1 Pecorino romano: this is a sweet cheese made from sheep's milk. You can substitute parmesan cheese to the equivalent amount if you wish.
- Note 2 Lemon juice: freshly squeezed from a lemon or bottled is fine for this recipe, don't sweat the difference.
- Note 3 Reserved pasta water: I usually take out 1 to 2 cups but for the recipe we only need to add ½ cup. If you keep the leftovers in a sealed, jar with lid these can be used to juice up leftovers. Hence the difference that we take out compared to what we pour in to the recipe.
- Serving size: 4 main dish sizes or 6 plus if you are wanting to serve this as a side with a main dish. Scoop some pasta onto the plate and a bit of everything else to make it a complete feast.
Nutrition
Calories: 751kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 482mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1122IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 221mg | Iron: 4mg