Try something new with this basil pesto pasta recipe! My family has never really made pasta without red sauce. One year I decided to grow basil and I grew so much that I couldn’t use it all in one season so I decided to make the left-over leaves into pesto. Since then basil pesto has been my favorite sauce to make at home. In fact, I’ve been to several Italian restaurants, none of which carry this delicious dish on the menu.
The Basil Pesto
If you have the time and are feeling ambitious you can make the basil pesto from scratch. It isn’t hard, it’s just time-consuming, and for around $3.00, it’s totally worth buying a premade jar of the stuff from any grocer. It’s typically on the top shelf in the pasta sauce aisle or you can order Classico Basil Pesto from Amazon.
The Pasta
My favorite pasta to use for this dish is bowtie. The pesto clings to the pasta perfectly so that you get the amazing flavor in every bite! It is super important to cook the pasta al dente. You should be cooking all of your pasta to this consistency anyway because overcooked pasta is pretty nasty.
Ingredients:
- 1 box of bow tie pasta
- 4 tbsp basil pesto
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Basil leaves to garnish (optional)
- Grape tomatoes (optional)
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions:
- Prepare the water in a medium saucepan for 1 box of bowtie pasta
- In a small skillet to heat olive oil over medium-low heat for about a minute.
- Add the basil pesto and minced garlic and stir, set heat to low
- After the water has started to boil, add the pasta and cook it until al dente.
- Strain pasta thoroughly (do not rinse) and set aside
- Add garlic salt and black pepper to the pesto and cook at medium heat for 1 minute.
- Put your cooked pasta in a bowl and then add the pan of pesto over the top of it.
- Stir the pasta so that all of the pesto covers all of the pasta
- Add halved grape tomatoes and basil leaves as a garnish
- Serve immediately and sprinkle the grated parmesan and red pepper flakes to your taste
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my post on The Best White Pizza Recipe.