🌿 Fusilli with pesto Genovese

Name: Fusilli with pesto Genovese
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy · Liguria
Ingredients: 320 g fusilli; 50 g fresh basil leaves; 30 g pine nuts; 1 garlic clove; 50 g parmesan, finely grated; 80 ml extra virgin olive oil; Salt

Origin: Italy · Liguria

555kcal

per serving · 300 g

185kcal

per 100 g

20 gProtein6.5 g / 100 g

26 gFat8.5 g / 100 g

69 gCarbs23 g / 100 g

Fusilli al pesto is pasta spirals coated in Genoese pesto, a raw sauce of fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, grated parmesan and olive oil. The twisted shape holds the bright green sauce in every groove. The pesto is never cooked — it is loosened with a splash of pasta water and stirred in off the heat, giving a fragrant, nutty and savoury plate.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: parmesan

Contains glutenbecause of: fusilli

Contains dairybecause of: parmesan

Not keto23 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk ⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

fusillibasilpine nutsparmesangarlicolive oil

Recipe

4 servings20 min

Ingredients

320 g fusilli
50 g fresh basil leaves
30 g pine nuts
1 garlic clove
50 g parmesan, finely grated
80 ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Method

Cook the fusilli in salted boiling water until al dente; keep a cup of the cooking water.
Pound or blend the basil, garlic, pine nuts and a pinch of salt into a coarse paste.
Stir in the parmesan, then the olive oil in a thin stream.
Drain the pasta and, off the heat, toss it with the pesto and a few spoons of the cooking water until glossy.
Serve straight away.

How to make it lighter

Pesto is dense in energy: 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal, so 2–3 tbsp of pesto per plate is plenty.
Loosen the pesto with pasta water instead of extra oil to coat the spirals evenly.
Serve a smaller pasta portion next to a large tomato or green salad.

History

Pesto alla genovese comes from Genoa and the Ligurian coast, where small-leaved basil grows in abundance; the name comes from pestare, "to pound", after the mortar and pestle used to make it. Written recipes appear in the 19th century, and the sauce spread worldwide in the second half of the 20th.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →