Name: Linguini With Pesto - Il Vero Amore
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3-4 tbsp pesto; 10 oz linguini; 4 tbsp parmesan

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Pesto linguini is a perfect combination of rich flavor, tradition, and inviting aromas. it is a must-try recipe of Italian cuisine. Creamy and succulent, pesto linguini is a vegetarian healthy dish ready in only 20 minutes. Isnt’ that true love?

Linguini with pesto is a classic and appetizing first course of the beautiful and sunny peninsula, where the pasta is seasoned with the typical pesto sauce. Have you ever tried to prepare the basil pesto recipe with your own hands? With a few tricks and secrets, I guarantee a creamy and delicious sauce in no time. The pesto sauce is a no-cook cold creamy sauce that was first invented in the region of Liguria, Italy. The vivid green sauce is made with garlic in addition to basil, pine nuts, and parmesan and with a generous amount of olive oil. Pesto delivers all the goodness and freshness contained in the basil leaves. When blended to the rest of the ingredients, you get a creamy dressing that enhances the good flavors and colors of Mediterranean cuisine. The main condition to get a delicious basil pesto is choosing only top quality and fresh products.

Note: If you are allergic to pine nuts, you can also go without it. Pesto made without nuts is much more digestible and delicate. Don’t worry about the taste, it is still delicious.

Ingredients for pesto sauce

For the vibrant and refreshing sauce, you will need a few typical Italian ingredients. See the list of the products you will need to gather in your shopping cart:

A handful of fresh basil leaves. The original recipe indicates the green basil, however, you can use a mix of both. The result will not be affected.
Two medium garlic cloves
Half a cup olive oil
About 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
A pinch of salt
½ cup pine nuts. Make sure no one serving it is allergic to the nuts. If there is someone with intolerance, simply avoid adding this final ingredient.

How to prepare the pesto sauce?

Start by gently washing and drying the basil leaves. You can use a few paper towels or a salad spinner. When fully dried, transfer the leaves to the mixer together with the oil, pine nuts, and start blending. Then add the cheeses and mix again. If necessary, add more oil to obtain a homogeneous cream. However, there is nothing wrong with blending all ingredients at once. At this point, the pesto is ready to season any kind of pasta or gnocchi.

The blending of the pesto should be as short as possible so as not to oxidize the ingredients. If you want to enjoy the taste of fresh basil during wintertime, you can also prepare it in abundance and freeze it in airtight containers. Click on how to prepare the pesto sauce if you want a more detailed representation of the recipe.

Ingredients for the pesto linguini

The classic recipe is very simple and vegetarian, it is made with a few fresh and genuine ingredients: a homemade basil pesto and an excellent quality pasta. You can choose the bavette, spaghetti, or linguini. You can go for short pasta such as penne or farfalle. For today’s recipe, I went for the linguini. Nonetheless, choose whatever pasta you like most.

How to cook linguini with pesto?

There’s a simple yet very smart thing you should always do when cooking pasta. Always put plenty of water to boil at the very beginning, then proceed to the rest of the preparation. While the water will reach its boiling point, you will manage to prepare the sauces or the desired toppings.

As soon as the pesto sauce is ready and the water is boiling, add the linguini to the water and let boil according to package instructions. Once the linguini is cooked al dente, drain them, leaving aside a little cooking water.

Season the linguini with a little pesto, you will need about one full tablespoon for every two people. Mix well and add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water.

Serve the pesto linguini while warm. Sprinkling some parmesan or pecorino on top of the pasta to finish the look of authentic linguini with pesto sauce.

How to store linguini with pesto?

It is best advised to consume the linguini with pesto at the moment when freshly cooked. However, if you have some leftovers, seal the pasta hermetically and store for up to 1 day in the refrigerator.

Tips:

An exquisite alternative to make linguini with pesto is to add tomato and make the so-called red pesto. Cook two-three tablespoons of tomato puree in a pan with a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt, then add the pesto and mix, turn off and season the pasta.