Pesto Pasta

This is the best pesto pasta recipe and I have been making it for SO many years! Ever since I’ve started growing pesto on my balcony in college, first thing I learned is to make pesto pasta. It’s really easy to make both, homemade pesto and this pasta dish in less than 30 minutes and with a few simple ingredients…plus one SECRET INGREDIENT that makes the whole dish perfect!

Quick Overview

• I won’t make you wait, the secret ingredient to this (and quite a few other) pasta dishes is pasta COOKING WATER.
• You can easily make the pesto and the pasta dish or use leftover homemade pesto or your favorite store-bought pasta.
• Do be careful with store-bought pasta because some of them could be too thin.
• It’s easy to adjust ingredients if needed, like the type of nuts, type of pasta, or type or hard Italian cheese.

Secret To Avoid Dry Pasta

• The secret to avoiding dry pasta is simply in the pasta water.
• The water that the pasta is boiled in is actually a secret to many pasta sauces and pasta dishes, like this one, shrimp pesto pasta, Cacio e Pepe and so many more.
• Pasta cooking water has high amount of starches so it’s a great thickening and binding ingredient for pasta dishes.

Pesto Pasta Cooking Tips

• To save some time, make pesto while pasta is cooking and guess what? It’s beyond easy and takes only about 5 minutes! Simply place all of the required ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it’s smooth and well blended.
• Prepare the noodles according to the package directions, remember to salt the water and remember to reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Make sure to get the cooking water right before straining pasta or while straining pasta. BIG TIP: place a measuring cup in the sink when starting to cook, this way you won’t forget to reserve water!
• Place the pasta, pesto, and cooking water in a large mixing bowl. Don’t toss pasta in the hot cooking pot or your pesto will turn black.
• Another pasta water tip: If you plan to save pesto pasta leftovers for later, save 1/4-1/2 cup of starchy cooking water separately to use when reheating!
• Serving tip: Top your pasta off with nuts as well as more parmesan cheese. This will enhance the flavor of pesto and give you a delightful little crunch.

Adding Chicken To Pesto Pasta

• Absolutely!! With pesto pasta, I love to marinate chicken breasts in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, and parsley.
• After marinating for a couple of hours, I just pan-cook it for 5-7 minutes per side. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken. (You can check internal temperature and it should be 165°F.)
• Slice the chicken and add it to the pesto pasta! You can even cook the chicken or marinate it ahead of time.

Storing and Reheating Tips

• If you know that you will not able to eat the whole pound of pasta that you cooked, you can toss only a portion of the pasta with pesto and some cooking water and then store leftovers separately. Then, reheat the leftover pasta with some cooking water and toss the hot pasta with pesto.
• In the instance that you did toss everything with pesto, you can gently and slowly warm it up in a warm oven.
• First, preheat the oven to 350°F, then turn it off. Add the leftover pesto pasta into a baking dish and toss it with extra cooking water that you saved. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and put it into the warm oven for about 20 minutes to warm up to room temperature.

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More Pesto Recipes To Try

• Pesto Grilled Cheese
• Cheesy Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
• Pesto Alfredo Tortellini
• Pesto Roasted Potatoes Carrots and Asparagus
• Italian Three Cheese Chicken Salad

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in May 2021.