Homemade Pesto Pasta

Pasta coated in an intense green paste, glossy with olive oil. The powerful aroma of fresh basil and aged cheese rises as soon as everything is tossed together.

• Prep time: 15 min
• Cook time: 10 min
• Difficulty: Easy
• Calories: 897
• Protein: 23 g
• Carbs: 80 g
• Fat: 55 g

Ingredients

• 400 g Spaghetti ( dry )
• 100 g Basil ( fresh leaves )
• 50 g Pine nut ( toasted )
• 60 g Parmesan cheese ( finely grated )
• 40 g Pecorino cheese (sheep cheese) ( finely grated )
• 2 piece Garlic ( degermed )
• 150 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch Gray sea salt

Instructions

1. Toasting pine nuts

   Heat a dry pan. Toss in the pine nuts. Stir constantly until they turn golden and smell nutty. Remove immediately to stop the cooking process.

2. Pesto base

   Crush or blend the garlic with the cooled pine nuts and a pinch of grey sea salt. Add the basil leaves. Pulse to get a grainy paste without heating the herbs, which would turn them black.

3. Cheese and oil emulsion

   Stir in the grated parmesan and pecorino. Drizzle in the olive oil while mixing. The sauce should become creamy, almost like a thick ointment.

4. Cooking the pasta

   Plunge the spaghetti into a large pot of boiling salted water. Cook until al dente: the pasta should offer a slight resistance when bitten. Keep some cooking water before draining.

5. Final coating

   Mix the hot pasta with the pesto off the heat. Add a tablespoon of cooking water to loosen the sauce. The pesto should coat every spaghetti without clumping.

Chef's tips

• Never heat the pesto: cooked basil loses its fragrance and turns bitter.
• The pasta cooking water is the secret to a sauce that coats perfectly without being greasy.

Storage

Pesto keeps for 3 days in the fridge in a jar, covered with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent oxidation.