I like pasta with very simple sauces. And I do not like my pasta smothered in sauce of any kind. Hot pasta tossed with garlic infused oil with lots of freshly ground black pepper is enough to make me swoon. A fast weekday meal for me is linguini tossed with homemade basil pesto. It is ideal for entertaining too. When entertaining with this dish, I serve it with large or jumbo prawns, pan-seared.
There are many varieties of basil each with its own unique flavour. For pesto, I generally like the big,
broad, highly fragrant, tender leaves of sweet basil. If you can get that great, if not, use the lemon basil (aka married-man pork in Guyana) to make the pesto for this dish.
Pesto can be made and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight bottle for weeks but is it so good that you would want to add it to many things.
The pesto recipe below calls for nuts and Parmesan cheese but leave them out if you don’t have or if you have an allergy to nuts in general.
INGREDIENTS
For pesto:
2 packed cups fresh basil leaves
1 large clove garlic, chopped
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup of toasted pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts or peanuts (optional)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Olive oil or a neutral tasting oil of your choice
For linguini:
1 x 1 lb. packet of dried linguini pasta (or your favourite pasta)
½ cup pesto (add more if you like)
High quality Olive oil (optional)
DIRECTIONS
For pesto:
1. Add the basil leaves and garlic to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until very fine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pulse to mix.
2. Add nuts and cheese if using and pulse a few times to mix. With the processor running, pour oil into the bowl of the food processor (from the opening at the top) until the mixture become the consistency of a thick sauce that glides easily from a spoon. The sauce should not be too loose.
3. Transfer to a bowl or container, cover and set aside.
For linguini:
Boil pasta according to package instructions or to your desired consistency.
Drain well and immediately add to a large bowl.
Add pesto and toss to coat and mix well. Drizzle with olive oil (if using) and serve hot.
