Pesto Pasta Recipe with Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce
Homemade sauces are the best and they are always more tasty and hygienic than the store bought ones. Pesto Sauce is one such sauce that is very easy-to-make and requires few ingredients. Once you are ready with the sauce and you have your pasta ready, rest of the process to make this dish is quick.
You can use pesto sauce for your salads, as a topping on your toasts/breads, as a dip to serve with chips and thinly sliced veggies; the list is endless. There can be many variations to this sauce. You can add parmesan cheese and cream to the sauce. We have avoided adding both. If you do not have pine nuts, you can replace them with walnuts.
We have added corn, carrots, broccoli and cherry tomatoes to our pasta. You can add any of the available veggies to the pasta or can even enjoy it plain. Choice is yours. You may also try our Indian Style Masala Pasta Recipe
You may have a look at our Breakfast & Snacks Recipes
Vermicelli Pulao
Moong Dal Paratha
Indian Style Masala Pasta
Onion Rava Paniyaram
Baked Nutty Beetroot Tikkis
Doodhi Muthia
Besan Chilla with Carrot Paneer Stuffing
Spinach Corn Sandwich
Pesto Pasta Recipe with Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce
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Ingredients (1 cup = 240 ml)
For the Pesto Sauce
- 1.5 cups chopped fresh basil leaves OR about 60 grams fresh basil leaves
- 1 big garlic clove roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 2.5 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Pasta
- ¾ cup pasta we have used penne pasta
- 2.5 - 3 cups water
- pinch of salt
- few drops of oil
Veggies & other ingredients
- 1.5 teaspoon olive oil
- 1-2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- ¼ capsicum cut lengthwise
- ½ medium sized carrot cut lengthwise, boiled
- ¼ cup chopped broccoli florets boiled
- ¼ cup corn kernels boiled
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes
- salt to taste
Instructions
For the Pasta
- Take pasta in a microwave safe bowl and add water, salt and oil to it.
- Cover and micro for about 10-15 minutes or till pasta is cooked completely. Stop at every 6-7 minutes and stir.
- You can also cook pasta on gas. In a deep pan, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add salt and few drops of oil to it. Add the pasta and cook till you get perfectly cooked pasta.
- Drain the cooked pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
For the Pesto Sauce
- In a mixer/blender jar, take pine nuts, garlic and chopped basil leaves.
- Blend till you get a smooth puree. If your mixer jar is small, you can add basil leaves in batches.
- Now add salt and olive oil and blend once just to give a good mix.
- Pesto sauce is ready. Keep aside.
Preparing Pesto Pasta
- Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and add chopped garlic. Saute for about 1-2 minutes.
- Now add capsicum and saute for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add boiled carrots, broccoli and corn. Mix well and saute for about 1-2 minutes.
- Then add the prepared pesto sauce, stir and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add boiled pasta and also check the salt level and add accordingly. Mix and saute for about 2-3 minutes.
- In the end, add cherry tomatoes, give a quick stir. Serve hot.
Video
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