Freshers, if you learn how to make a quick pesto now, you'll have a skill for life.
I promise, learning to make pesto was one of the best tricks I picked up. Cupboard bare, save a few herbs, cheese and pasta? Easy dinner. Want a way to jazz up your roast potatoes? Pesto! Need a tasty dressing for a salad? Use pesto!
Pesto is one of those things that, once you learn the basics, you can adapt to your own taste buds and whatever you have available in your cupboards. It's easy to make but brings a big hit of flavour. That's exactly why it's the perfect thing to learn for a simple dinner: pesto pasta!
I've given really rough measurements in the recipe below, but my favourite way to make pesto is by taste! Once you've added some of each ingredient and blitzed it together, grab a spoon and give it a taste. This way, not only will you get to know your own taste-buds better, but you'll be able to make delicious pesto every time.
Pesto Pasta Recipe
Serves 1 generously
Ingredients
60g uncooked pasta (your favourite shape or whatever you have in the cupboard is fine)
30g fresh Basil (but you can substitute this for any herb*)
1tbsp nuts - traditionally it's pine nuts, but also works well with walnuts, hazelnuts or pistachio
20g grated hard cheese like Parmesan or Grana Padano
Olive oil (the amount will vary, but it needs to be a good oil like olive, not vegetable)
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
Salt
*My tip: If you're low on herbs, pack out your pesto with spinach leaves. You might need to season it more thoroughly to get the taste right, but it's a superfood and makes a vibrant green pesto.
Method:
Bring a pot of water to the boil on a medium-high heat. You can do this with cold water, or to speed things up you can boil a kettle first. Either is honestly fine.
Pop your pasta in the boiling water and allow it to cook - follow the packet instructions but for dried pasta you can usually allow 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender, add your basil and garlic along with a good pinch of salt. Give it a blitz before adding the nuts and a good glug of olive oil. Blitz again.
Add your hard cheese, blitz and taste. You might prefer a runnier pesto, in which case you can add more oil. Do it a little at a time so as not to go overboard! Keep blitzing and tasting until you have something that tastes yummy to you. You can add a little lemon juice if you want acidity, or keep playing with the salt/garlic/basil ratio.
When the pasta is cooked, drain all the excess water from the pot. Pour your pesto over the pasta and give it a good stir. If you want next level pesto pasta, save about 50ml of your pasta in a cup and add it back to the pot with your pesto. This will help your sauce be glossy and smooth!
Serve it with a little extra grated cheese if you like - I do.
Happy cooking, freshers!
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