We all know and love pesto pasta. It's a very simple pasta dish That's fresh and light making it perfect for the warmer nights. This is a dish I'll make if I'm craving an easy pasta and I only have 20 minutes to make it.

Here's a recipe that follows the authentic Pesto alla Genovese recipe with small tweaks based on how I like to cook and eat it. Learn about the dish and what they key steps and ingredients are, and then we'll get into making it.

About the dish

Authentic Pesto alla Genovese is made in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle, and this technique is a key part of the dish. Crushing bruises the basil cell walls and releases essential oils rather than shredding them the way a blender blade does. Blending generates heat from friction and oxidises the oils rapidly, turning the pesto dark and slightly bitter within minutes. Working in a mortar keeps the temperature low and gives you control over texture.

The finished pesto has a rougher, more varied consistency with visible pieces of nut and herb rather than a smooth paste. This is the traditional Ligurian result. Start with garlic and salt, add toasted pine nuts, then basil in small batches, then cheese, then oil.

Set aside half a cup of pasta water before draining. After draining, the pasta goes back into the pot with the pesto and a splash of that starchy water and is tossed together off the heat. The starch in the cooking water emulsifies the oil in the pesto into a loose, even coating rather than an oily slick that slides off the pasta. Never put pesto over direct heat. The basil discolours and goes bitter almost immediately. The hot pasta is enough to warm the pesto through.

Ingredient Notes

Basil:

Use young, small-leaved basil at peak freshness. Large, mature basil leaves can have a slightly bitter, clove-like flavour. Wash the leaves and pat them dry before using. Any remaining water dilutes the pesto and speeds up oxidation. Add the basil to the mortar in small batches rather than all at once so you can work it down progressively.

Pine nuts (toasted):

I toast mine lightly in a dry pan before pounding, which adds a deeper, nuttier flavour than raw pine nuts. Traditional Genovese pesto uses raw pine nuts, but I think toasted gives a better result. Toast in a dry pan over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until just turning golden. Watch them carefully as they go from golden to burnt in about 30 seconds.

Pasta shape:

So this recipe is generally made with trofie, trenette, or linguine pasta but I really like the shape of fusilli with pesto as there’s lots of place for the pesto to stick to it.

Parmigiano-Reggiano:

As there aren't many ingredient, the quality of each one does matter especially when is comes to the Parmigiano. Parmigiano-Reggiano has a crystalline, complex flavour that generic parmesan doesn’t match. Grana Padano is a less expensive substitute with a milder flavour. Avoid pre-grated parmesan from a container. It contains anti-caking agents that prevent it from incorporating smoothly into the pesto.