Pesto Pasta

Pesto Pasta Recipe

Get this recipe on the next page >>

“Fast food”, not necessarily means instant noodles or junk food. I call pesto pasta my gourmet “instant noodles”. Recently, I am hooked on making pesto. Pesto is a versatile sauce with many uses. I like to use it to make a very quick, almost instant pesto pasta meal.

See Also: Pesto Pizza Recipe

On the weekends, I will usually make a small quantity of pesto (just enough to last me for a few days) and keep the pesto sealed and chilled in the fridge. Whenever I’m hungry and fancy a quick meal, I will cook some angel hair (a quick cooking pasta which cooks in 2 minutes) and toss the pesto with the noodles. It takes me less than 5 minutes to whip up this plate with my ready stash of pesto in the fridge, almost the same time I take to cook instant noodles. How’s that for fast food? This is healthy and quite gourmet for a change from the usual fast food, and not bad for 5 minutes work. If you prefer it more fancy, you can also grill some seafood on the side and it will become seafood pesto pasta; the possibilities are limitless.

Pesto Pasta Recipe

Feel free to use your favourite pasta (even filled pasta such as ravioli), in place of the angel hair used in this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 serving (about 80g) of pasta noodles (I usually use angel hair)
  • 2 tbsp pesto (either home-made or store bought)
  • 1 tbsp salt and water

Garnishing ideas

  • cherry tomatoes, halved
  • basil leaves
  • toasted pine nuts
  • grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Add 1 tbsp of salt to a pot of water (enough to cook pasta) to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 2 tbsp of pasta water.
  2. When the pasta is cooked, drain them onto a serving plate. Toss the noodles in pesto and pasta water. Toss well and garnish with cherry tomatoes, cheese, pine nuts and basil leaves.