🌿 Linguine with pesto genovese
Linguine al pesto genovese is pasta tossed with an uncooked sauce of fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan and olive oil. The pesto is bright green, herby and nutty, and coats every strand once loosened with a little pasta water. It is served warm, never cooked again after mixing, so the basil stays fresh.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 360 g linguine
- 50 g fresh basil leaves
- 30 g pine nuts
- 50 g parmesan, grated
- 1 garlic clove
- 80 ml olive oil
- Salt
Method
- Pound or blend the garlic and pine nuts with a pinch of salt, then add the basil and work into a paste.
- Stir in the parmesan and loosen with the olive oil.
- Cook the linguine in salted water until al dente; keep some pasta water.
- Off the heat, toss the pasta with the pesto and 2–3 tbsp pasta water until creamy, then serve.
How to make it lighter
- Pesto is calorie-dense: about 1½ tbsp per person is enough when loosened with pasta water.
- Blend in extra basil and less oil to keep the colour and flavour with less fat.
- Add green beans or potatoes the Ligurian way, but reduce the pasta to keep the portion balanced.
History
Pesto comes from Genoa and the Liguria region, and its name comes from the Italian pestare, 'to pound', as it is traditionally made in a mortar. Written recipes for basil pesto appear in Ligurian cookbooks from the 19th century. In Liguria it is often served with trofie or linguine.
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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 →