I love Erin’s pesto… well, actually, it is Barefoot Contessa, I think. But Erin is the one who introduced me to the recipe, so I think of it as hers. :) I have already made this pesto twice this year. Once with my sweet mom and once on my own with my own home grown sweet basil to freeze for later use. Pesto is the best on everything… but this time I used it with a super easy and delicous recipe I adapted from THISwebsite (I think it is whatscookingamerica.net?). We used our fresh garden tomatoes, which along with the fresh pesto was WONDERFUL!
Basil Pesto Pasta
Submitted by Mindy
1/4 cup basilpesto (Pesto recipe already posted by Erin… it’s the best!)
1/4 lb penne pasta
1.5-2 cups tomatoes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Basil leaves
Shredded parmesan cheese
Prepare Basil Pesto. Store in refrigerator or freeze until ready to serve. (Click on “pesto” above to go to the recipe, which was previously posted by Erin. It is the BEST!!!) Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente. Just before draining the pasta into a colander, remove 1/4 cup of pasta water; set aside. Drain the pasta, put back in the pot, and then stir in the Basil Pesto and the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to create a sauce. Add diced tomatoes and toss to coat thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer onto individual serving plates and garnish with sliced fresh basil leaves and shavings of Parmesan cheese.Makes 2 servings.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
yummy that pasta looks delicious I have been craving pesto like no other lately.
Mindy,
I am so honored that you tried some of my recipes :)…I come to this blog for recipes ALL the time! I should be better about commenting though!
Marci
Yummy!!!! Can't wait to try this one :)
Nicole
I absolutely love Pesto. I make it in large batches all the time and freeze it so that I always have some.
I can't even tell you how much my mouth is watering right now! I'm adding this to the list…soon!
Oh sooo yum..I love pesto and pasta
oooooooo yummers :)
It sounded so good I actually made a big quadruple batch tonight for dinner. My entire family totally loved it and came back for seconds. Thanks for a great recipe!
Stumbled across your blog….I love cooking it's like a form of meditation for me….I will enjoy looking at and trying your recipes!
OMG I love your blog!
Hello! I also LOVE your blog. I was introduced to it by a dear friend. I do have a question about basil…how do you freeze it for later? This recipe looks so good.
Dear Toots, I actually meant that I froze the basil in the form of pesto. I think ice cube trays is the best way to do the pesto. Erin talks about this on her pesto post. I highly suggest trying it… it is SO good!
on man, i have pesto in my freezer, and some tomatoes that are almost ripe…
this looks so yummy! thanks for visiting my blog!
So easy, but it looks scrumptious!
How wonderful does this look! Fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, it sounds delicious!
Yum – anything with pesto and pasta has me hooked!
made this tonight. So tasty! even with store bought pesto.