Beetroot Pesto Spaghetti Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What pairs well with pesto pasta? ›

Seafood goes well with pesto pasta. Grilled Cod, Pan Seared Salmon, or Air Fryer Shrimp would all be tasty additions. Meaty Pesto Pasta. For pesto pasta with chicken, toss in my Baked Bone In Chicken Breast or Grilled Chicken Tenders.

As a very rough guide, your pesto should weigh about 2/3 the weight of the dried pasta you are cooking. So, for a standard, single serving of 75g of dried pasta, we think that 50g of pesto is about right.

Similar to oil-based sauces, pesto is served best with longer cuts of pasta, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Pesto, on the other hand, flourishes best when paired with thinner noodles, such as spaghetti and linguine, and with shapes that have plenty of twists, grooves, curls, and troughs. Fusilli is not only one of the most well-known pasta shapes; it's also the UK's most popular and our ultimate shape to use with pesto.

Yes, pesto can be used straight from the jar and doesn't require cooking or heating. In fact, we actively discourage applying too much heat to pesto, as this will destroy many of the fresh flavours that producers work so hard to retain.

PESTO SHOULD NEVER BE “COOKED”. If you cook Pesto Sauce, you change the make up of the fresh basil and cause it to turn darker in color. It is best to warm it up and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be thinned out, you can do so by adding a little water, chicken stock, cream or white wine.

To add some greens you could mix through some chopped fresh spinach. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil never goes astray. Add some protein - Chicken pesto pasta is a classic so add some cooked chicken breast or thighs into the creamy sauce.

For pesto sauces, use about one jar of 5.6-ounce sauce for a 16-ounce package of pasta. The amount of pesto sauce needed for pasta per person would be about . 75 ounces of sauce for each 2 ounce (about 1 cup cooked) serving of pasta.

How much pesto per lb of pasta? ›

I usually use around 1/3 to 1/2 cup pesto per 1 pound of pasta. If you accidentally add too much pesto, just add in a bit more pasta water.

The Bottom Line. Pesto is higher in calories than some sauces but it's also made with super-healthy ingredients, like basil, olive oil and nuts. I find it's a great way to add more flavor to pasta dishes and even vegetables and proteins.

Accompaniments. Pesto is commonly used on pasta, traditionally with mandilli de sæa ("silk handkerchiefs" in the Genoese dialect), trofie or trenette. Potatoes and string beans are also traditionally added to the dish, boiled in the same pot in which the pasta has been cooked.

Why is my pesto bland? It's likely because you need to add more basil or salt. You want your pesto to taste slightly too salty - that way when it's mixed with pasta the dish won't be bland.

Add all other ingredients into the mixing bowl with the pasta. Toss until all of the ingredients are evenly coated with the pesto. Serve immediately, garnished with fresh chopped parsley or basil and black pepper, if desired. This pasta is great served warm, room temperature or chilled.

While homemade and store-bought pesto sauces can vary in nutrition facts, pesto is generally a rich source of healthy fats. Because it is made with nutritious ingredients, pesto can be consumed as part of a balanced diet.

Add a hard, dry, Italian cheese to thicken the sauce.

Parmesan or pecorino cheese gives this sauce body and a salty bite.