Fresh
Light Pesto Penne
A lightened-up pesto that swaps half the oil for hot pasta water, so it clings to the ridges without weighing dinner down. Cibo di Italia Penne Rigate is the right shape to catch every fleck of basil and pine nut.
Ingredients
- 400gCibo di Italia Penne Rigate
- 80gfresh basil — leaves and tender stems
- 40gpine nuts — lightly toasted
- 1piecegarlic clove — small
- 50gparmesan — finely grated, plus extra to serve
- 4tbspolive oil — extra virgin
- 1tbsplemon juice
- 150gfrozen peas — optional, for green-on-green
- to tastesalt and black pepper
Method
Step 1.Bring 4 litres of salted water (2 tbsp salt) to a hard boil. Drop in the penne and cook for 9 minutes — taste at 8 for al dente.
9 min
Step 2.If using peas, add them to the pasta water for the final 90 seconds of cooking.
2 min
Step 3.While the pasta cooks, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, olive oil and lemon juice in a food processor to a coarse paste. Season with salt and pepper.
1 min
Step 4.Spoon 4 tablespoons of hot pasta water into the pesto and pulse again — this is the lightening step that makes the sauce cling.
1 min
Step 5.Scoop out another mug of pasta water. Drain the pasta and peas, keeping the pot warm.
1 min
Step 6.Tip the pasta back into the warm pot off the heat and stir in the pesto. Toss for 1 minute, adding pasta water by the spoonful until it coats every ridge.
1 min
Step 7.Serve straight away in warm bowls with extra parmesan, a grind of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Goes well with
Sparkling water with grapefruit slices and a sprig of basil.
Tomato and mozzarella salad with sea salt and olive oil.
Vanilla yoghurt with poached pears and a crumble topping.
The pasta we used
Cibo di Italia Penne Rigate
500g · Cooks in 9–11 minutes · Serves ~5
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