Fresh Pesto with Trofie Pasta

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Basil – Pick the leaves off the stem of the basil and just before making the pesto.
• Pine nuts – Pine nuts add a buttery and creamy texture to the pesto. Toasting the pine nuts adds a more complex, nutty flavor than using raw pine nuts. To toast them simply add them to a nonstick pan for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Just be sure to completely cool the nuts before making the pesto.
• Parmesan – Adding salty, aged cheese like Parmesan (or Pecorino Romano) keep the sauce chunky while adding a cheesy element. The cheese helps to thicken the pesto.
• Olive oil – While all olive oil comes from the fruit of olive trees, it’s not all created equal. Extra-virgin olive oil is unrefined and made from pure, cold-pressed olives, giving it more of a true olive taste. Regular olive oil is made from a blend of both cold-pressed and processed oils. I recommend using extra-virgin olive oil for this recipe.
• Pasta – While this fresh pesto can be made with just about any pasta shape it’s traditionally paired with trofie. Trofie is a short, hand-twisted pasta shape from Liguria, Italy.

How to Make Pesto with Fresh Basil

1. Wash basil. Pick the basil leaves off the stems then rinse and pat the basil dry.
2. Blend the pesto. Place the basil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice in a blender or food processor fitted with a blade attachment and blend.
3. Continue to blend. Stop the blender or food processor and stir occasionally, scraping down the sides, to make sure all ingredients are combined. Add olive oil and pulse once more. The mixture should still be slightly chunky.
4. Season. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to the boil; add the salt and bring back to the boil. Pour in the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 10 minutes.
6. Assemble and serve. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Ladle in the desired amout of pesto to coat the pasta, adding pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Stir and serve.

Tips and Tricks for This Recipe

Tips for the best pesto

• Blending it too much will result in more of a butter consistency rather than a sauce. You still want to be able to tell what the ingredients are when you stop blending.
• Blanching the basil leaves helps the basil tor retain their bright color. Cook it quickly (just for 5 seconds) in boiling water for just a few seconds before rinsing under cold water and draining and patting it dry.
• The basil can be substituted with another green like arugula or kale.

How to store pesto

The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated up to a week until ready to use. If you are refrigerating the pesto, it will oxidize and turn dark when it has been stored.

To prevent it from turning dark, add a think layer or olive oil to the surface, this will keep the air out and prevent oxidation. When ready to serve, just stir the olive oil back into the pesto.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this homemade fresh pesto recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:

• Creamy Pesto Pasta
• Ramp Pesto Spaghetti with Burrata
• Baked Stuffed Shells in Vodka Sauce with Pesto Oil and Smoked Mozzarella