An easy and delightful pesto pasta recipe that comes together in 30 minutes! Flavours are bright and zesty that adds a freshness to this bold garlic basil pesto making it a very delicious meal! A perfect weekday meal your family will love!
Are you too tired to cook or just running late to start dinner for your family, well this recipe is for you! It’s easy, simple and so delicious! Don’t panic if you don’t have time to make fresh pesto, store bought pesto will work perfectly for this recipe!
If you prefer to make your own pesto, you simply add the ingredients into the food processor or blender and pulse until blended and slowly add the olive oil. I often add walnuts to my pesto, as I often have them in my walnuts…they are my favourite snack!
INGREDIENTS & TIPS
HOMEMADE PESTO
- FRESH BASIL: you will need 4 cups of fresh basil and give it a quick rinse in cool water and towel dry
- GARLIC: I like mine garlicky
- WALNUTS: is my preference, pine nuts can easily replace the walnuts
- LEMON JUICE
- HIMALAYAN SALT OR SEA SALT: I like to use unprocessed salt for all the health benefits it offers
- EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: I recommend good quality evoo
PASTA
- PASTA: I used fettuccine pasta for this recipe, other options are linguine, spaghettini, fusilli
- SEA SALT
- PASTA WATER
- LEMON ZEST AND JUICE
- WALNUTS: can add them raw or toasted in butter
- BASIL LEAVES: for garnishing
WHY YOU WILL LOVE IT….
- READY IN UNDER 30 MINUTES
- SO FLAVOURFUL
- EASY RECIPE WITH A FEW INGREDIENTS
- HEALTHY AND SO SATISFYING
INSTRUCTIONS
Homemade Pesto
Using a food processor, add basil, garlic, walnuts, lemon juice and salt and pulse a few times until the garlic, walnuts and basil are chopped.
Then begin slowly stream in the olive oil through the spout until it starts to bind and the texture should become creamy and all the ingredients are well blended. Make sure you scrap down the sides. You will notice the olive oil separating and that’s to be expected.
Transfer the pesto into a bowl and set aside.
Pasta
Bring a large sauce pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta and follow package instructions until is al dente; and drain. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil or a teaspoon of butter and transfer to a large bowl. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
Using tongs, stir in 1/2 cup of pesto and half of the reserved cooking water into the pasta with 2 tablespoon of lemon juice and toss until the pasta is evenly coated. If the pasta is too dry, add alittle more reserved pasta water. The pesto should adhere to the pasta and it shouldn’t be watery.
To serve, add walnuts, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and basil leafs. Enjoy!
When pouring the pasta water into the bowl with pesto and the drained pasta, add a little at a time. You want the pesto to adhere to the pasta and to avoid it from getting watery.
Fresh, flavourful and very satisfying pasta meal your family will love!! The fresh flavours of the lemon juice and zest with the boldness of the garlic and pesto adds so much flavour to this dish that I know kids and adults alike will love it!
TIPS
The recipe for pesto makes 1 cup and this pasta recipe requries at least 1/2 cup of pesto and you may want to add a little more. Often times if I have leftover pasta, I will add some more pesto when I am warming it in a skillet.
How to store the extra pesto? I place the pesto in a glass jar, then I will add about a teaspoon or so of extra virgin olive oil to coat the top of the pesto. Add a lid to seal the pesto to avoid browning. It will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the pesto in a freeze friendly container and it will keep up to 4 months.
STORE this pasta recipe in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days in a container with a sealed lid. Like any pastas, they do freeze well but they do tend to change in texture as they loose their moisture once frozen.
REVIEW THIS RECIPE …..I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK WITH A COMMENT AND RATING! Thank you Rose 
Easy Lemon Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Using a food processor, add basil, garlic, walnuts, lemon juice and salt and pulse a few times until the garlic, walnuts and basil are chopped. Then begin slowly stream in the olive oil through the spout until it starts to bind and the texture should become creamy and all the ingredients are well blended. Make sure you scrap down the sides. You will notice the olive oil separating and that's to be expected. Transfer the pesto into a bowl and set aside.
- Bring a large sauce pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta and follow package instructions until is al dente; and drain. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil or a teaspoon of butter and transfer to a large bowl. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Using tongs, stir in 1/2 cup of pesto and half of the reserved cooking water into the pasta with 2 tablespoon of lemon juice and toss until the pasta is evenly coated. If the pasta is too dry, add more reserved pasta water. The pesto should adhere to the pasta.
- To serve, add walnuts, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and basil leafs. Enjoy!