Walnut Pesto Pasta
Making homemade pesto is always a great idea. However, it usually requires a trip to the store to grab a few key ingredients. One of those ingredients usually tends to be pine nuts. While they’re great for making pesto, I don’t find myself using them in many other recipes. So I started wondering if I could substitute another nut in place of the pine nuts. I ended up deciding to try out using walnuts for my home made pesto and it turned out awesome. The pesto turned out as delicious as always, and I didn’t even notice that I used walnuts instead of pine nuts. The best part about using walnuts is that I usually tend to keep them well stocked in my kitchen since I use them for so many different recipes. Hopefully you enjoy this recipe as much as I did, and that it leaves one less item off your shopping list.
Make it Gluten Free: Use your favorite gluten free pasta. My favorite gluten free pasta brand is Jovial.
INGREDIENTS
PESTO
- 2 cups of basil
- ½ cup of walnuts
- 3 garlic cloves
- ½ - ¾ cup of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
PASTA
- 1 package of pappardelle pasta (or your choice of pasta)
- ¼ cup of walnuts - chopped
STEPS
1. Add 2 cups of basil to a food processor and pulse for a few seconds. Add the ½ cup of walnuts and 3 cloves of garlic and blend until ingredients are coarsely chopped.
2. Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to the food processor and blend until all the ingredients are fully combined. (Add up to 3/4 cup of olive oil if desired).
3. Add desired amount of salt and pepper and transfer pesto to a small serving bowl.
4. Fill a large pot with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Cook pasta according to the packaging instructions. (Usually about 10 minutes).
5. Once the pasta is done cooking, serve desired amount of pasta into each bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of pesto to each bowl of pasta and mix until pesto has fully coated the pasta.
6. Chop up the ¼ cup of extra walnuts and add a small handful to each bowl and serve.
Enjoy!
