# Fresh Basil Pesto Pasta Recipe (Homemade, 20 Minutes) Source: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/pesto-pasta Author: Trevor (Trevor's Kitchen) Published: 2026-09-08 · Updated: 2026-09-08 Category: Dinner · Cuisine: Italian > The best pesto pasta starts with fresh basil pesto: 2 packed cups of basil, 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and 1/2 cup good olive oil, blended just until combined. Cook a pound of pasta, save a cup of the cooking water, and toss the pasta with the pesto and enough hot pasta water to make a creamy sauce that coats every piece. Never heat pesto in a pan; the hot pasta and water warm it just enough. ## At a glance - Prep time: 10 minutes - Cook time: 12 minutes - Total time: 22 minutes - Yield: 4 to 6 servings (about 1 1/4 cups pesto) - Servings: 6 - Calories per serving: 520 ## Ingredients ### For the pesto - 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, about 60 g, stems removed - 1/3 cup pine nuts, 45 g, toasted - 1 garlic clove, or 2 for a stronger pesto - 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 120 ml - 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 50 g, plus more for serving - 1/2 teaspoon fine salt - 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, optional ### For the pasta - 1 pound pasta, 450 g, fusilli, trofie, gemelli or linguine - 1 tablespoon kosher salt, for the pasta water - Freshly ground black pepper ## Instructions 1. **Boil the water and toast the nuts.** Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the kosher salt. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Tip onto a plate to cool. 2. **Make the pesto.** In a food processor, pulse the basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic and salt until coarsely chopped. With the machine running, stream in the olive oil and process until nearly smooth, about 20 seconds, scraping down once. Add the Parmesan and lemon juice and pulse just to combine. Taste for salt. _Tip: Stop as soon as it comes together. Over-processing heats the basil and dulls the color._ 3. **Cook the pasta.** Cook the pasta in the boiling water until just al dente, 1 minute less than the package says. Before draining, scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water. 4. **Toss.** Drain the pasta and return it to the warm pot, off the heat. Add the pesto and 1/2 cup of the pasta water and toss vigorously until the sauce turns creamy and coats every piece, adding more water a splash at a time as needed. 5. **Serve.** Divide among bowls and top with more grated Parmesan and black pepper. Serve immediately. ## Equipment - Food processor or blender (or a mortar and pestle) - Large pot for pasta - Small skillet for toasting nuts - Ladle or measuring cup for pasta water ## Notes - Save the pasta water. It is what turns pesto into a sauce. - Toss off the heat. Cooking pesto makes it dark and bitter. - Grate the cheese yourself; pre-grated cheese makes the pesto pasty. ## Why this recipe works - Toasting the pine nuts brings out their sweetness and deepens the flavor of the whole sauce. - Blending the basil with the oil and nuts, and adding the cheese at the end, keeps the pesto bright green and prevents a gummy texture. - Starchy pasta water emulsifies with the oil in the pesto to create a glossy sauce that coats every piece. - Tossing off the heat keeps the basil fresh-tasting; cooked pesto turns dark and bitter. ## Ingredient notes and substitutions Use fresh Genovese-type basil with small, tender leaves if you can find it; large-leaf basil is fine, but strip out the thick stems. Pine nuts are traditional and expensive; walnuts, almonds or pistachios all make excellent pesto for a fraction of the cost. Toast whichever nut you use. Parmigiano-Reggiano gives the best flavor. Pecorino Romano is sharper and saltier; many Genoese recipes use a mix of the two. Grate the cheese yourself, since pre-grated cheese contains anti-caking starch that makes the pesto pasty. Use a good extra-virgin olive oil that tastes mild and fruity rather than peppery, since it is not cooked. ## How to keep pesto bright green Basil oxidizes and darkens quickly once it is cut. To slow this, blanch the leaves for 10 seconds in boiling water, plunge them into ice water, and squeeze dry before blending; this locks in the color for days. A simpler defense is to add the oil early so it coats the leaves, work quickly, and press plastic wrap or a thin layer of oil onto the surface of the stored pesto. A squeeze of lemon juice also helps and brightens the flavor. ## The best pasta shapes for pesto In Liguria, pesto is served with trofie or trenette, but any shape with texture or twists for the sauce to cling to is ideal: fusilli, gemelli, orecchiette, farfalle, casarecce. Long shapes like linguine and spaghetti work well too. Avoid smooth tube shapes like penne lisce, which shed the sauce. Whatever the shape, cook it in well-salted water until just al dente; it will soften a bit more in the sauce. ## What to add to pesto pasta - Halved cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella pearls, stirred in at the end. - Grilled or rotisserie chicken, sliced. - Shrimp sautéed in garlic and olive oil for 3 minutes. - Green beans and cubed potatoes boiled with the pasta, the classic Ligurian way. - Peas, asparagus or zucchini added to the pasta pot for the last 2 minutes. ## Storage - Pesto keeps in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week with a thin layer of olive oil pressed over the surface. - Freeze pesto in an ice-cube tray, then transfer the cubes to a bag, for up to 6 months. Two cubes sauce one serving of pasta. - Dressed pasta keeps refrigerated for 3 days; revive it with a splash of water and a drizzle of oil, and serve at room temperature or gently warmed. ## Variations - Walnut pesto: replace the pine nuts with toasted walnuts for a deeper, more affordable pesto. - Creamy pesto pasta: stir 1/4 cup heavy cream or mascarpone into the pesto before tossing. - Pesto with tomatoes and mozzarella: add 1 pint halved cherry tomatoes and 8 ounces mozzarella pearls. - Vegan pesto: replace the Parmesan with 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast and add a pinch more salt. ## Frequently asked questions **How much pesto do I need for a pound of pasta?** About 3/4 to 1 cup of pesto for 1 pound of pasta, thinned with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of starchy pasta water. This recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups, so you will have a little extra for the refrigerator. **Why does my pesto turn brown?** Basil oxidizes when it is cut and exposed to air. Work quickly, add the oil early, add a little lemon juice, and store pesto with oil or plastic wrap pressed on the surface. Blanching the basil for 10 seconds before blending keeps it bright green for days. **Do you heat pesto before adding it to pasta?** No. Add the pesto to the hot, drained pasta off the heat with a splash of pasta water. The heat of the pasta is enough to warm it, and cooking pesto in a pan turns it dark and bitter. **Can I make pesto without a food processor?** Yes. A blender works, adding the oil first so the blades can move. The traditional tool is a mortar and pestle: grind the garlic and salt to a paste, work in the nuts, then the basil a handful at a time, then the cheese and oil. It takes 10 minutes and makes a wonderfully creamy pesto. **Can I use a different nut?** Walnuts, almonds, cashews and pistachios all work well. Toast them first. For a nut-free pesto, use toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds. ## Nutrition (per serving, estimated) - Calories: 520 - Fat: 25 g - Saturated fat: 5 g - Carbohydrates: 58 g - Fiber: 3 g - Sugar: 2.5 g - Protein: 15 g - Sodium: 480 mg - Cholesterol: 8 mg --- Recipe by Trevor. Full page with photos: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/pesto-pasta Structured data (JSON): https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/pesto-pasta/recipe.json