Pasta al pesto in a bowl with basil sauce and grated cheese

Italy · Italian

Pasta al Pesto

Wheat pasta tossed with a basil pesto-style sauce, with a classic cheese and pine nut version plus a vegan nuts-free version using sunflower seeds.

  • Italian
  • 22 min total time
  • 2 base servings
  • 2 versions
  • 4 compatible options

Country

Italy

Cuisine

Italian

Servings

2 servings

Prep

10 min

Cook

12 min

Total

22 min

2 versions

4 compatible options

Makes 2 bowls of pasta, enough for 2 servings.

Scale pasta and sauce ingredients together, then loosen the pesto with a splash of pasta cooking water as needed.

Adapt this recipe

Customize this recipe

Adjust servings, version and allergens or avoidances to fit this recipe to your context.

Servings

Adapted for 2 servings

Version

Active version: Classic

Allergens & avoidances

4 compatible options

Adaptation status

Servings: 2 · Version: Classic · Check ingredients below

Always check ingredient labels and cross-contamination warnings.

Classic

Classic basil pesto-style pasta with wheat pasta, cheese, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil.

Contains gluten, milk/lactose and tree nuts. There is no gluten-free version in this recipe.

Version

  • Vegetarian

Free from

  • Eggs
  • Peanuts
  • Soy
  • Sesame seeds
  • Fish
  • +2 more

Contains

  • Gluten
  • Lactose
  • Dairy
  • Tree nuts

Ingredients

  • 180 g wheat pasta Contains gluten.
  • 40 g fresh basil
  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 35 g Parmesan or Pecorino-style cheese Contains milk and lactose.
  • 25 g pine nuts Treated as tree nuts for this recipe.
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 3 g fine salt

Cooking method

Pan

  1. Cook the pasta

    Boil the wheat pasta in salted water until just tender, reserving a little cooking water before draining.

  2. Blend the sauce

    For classic pesto, blend basil, olive oil, cheese, pine nuts, garlic and salt. For vegan pesto, use sunflower seeds and optional nutritional yeast instead of cheese and pine nuts.

  3. Loosen

    Add a spoonful of pasta cooking water to the sauce if it needs to loosen.

  4. Toss

    Return the pasta to the warm pan off the heat and toss with the pesto until evenly coated.

  5. Serve

    Serve immediately, adding any extra cheese only to the classic version.

Frequently asked questions

Does pasta al pesto contain gluten?

Yes. Both current versions use wheat pasta, so there is no gluten-free compatible version yet.

Which version should I choose if I avoid lactose, milk protein or tree nuts?

Choose the vegan version. It uses sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts and leaves out the cheese.

Is the vegan version traditional pesto?

No. It is an adapted pesto-style version that keeps basil, garlic, olive oil and pasta while removing dairy and tree nuts.

Can I change the number of servings?

Yes. Use the Recipyx servings buttons and the pasta and sauce ingredients will scale.

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