Homemade Pesto with Orecchiette Pasta
Servings: 4 - 6 servings
A delicious homemade pesto with orecchiette pasta. A simple and authentic Italian dish.
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Ingredients
- 1 pound orecchiette pasta
- 2 cups packed fresh basil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated (plus more for garnish)
- 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese grated
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Equipment
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients first - wash, pat dry, and remove stems from the basil leaves. Mince the garlic, and grate the cheese.
- Toast the pine nuts at 350°F for 3 minutes or until lightly golden.
- In a food processor, add the minced garlic and toasted pine nuts. Pulse the ingredients together, it will look gritty. Add the basil and cheeses. Pulse again until all the ingredients are mixed well.
- With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil until the pesto is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt. Add the orecchiette pasta and cook as directed on the box (about 11 minutes). Reserve one cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Dilute the pesto with one tablespoon of pasta water. You can add another tablespoon as needed if you want a thinner pesto sauce.
- Toss the pesto sauce and orecchiette pasta together. Grate more parmesan cheese on top as garnish. Serve and enjoy!
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Notes
Feel free to substitute the pine nuts for other nuts such as, walnuts and pistachios. Additionally, you can also substitute all or some of the basil for spinach or kale.
Orecchiette is my favorite pasta for pesto because it has vessels to hold more pesto and it also sticks to the pasta, but you can use your favorite pasta too.
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