Basil Pesto Pasta Recipe - Traditional Italian Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

Is pesto traditionally Italian? ›

PESTO ORIGINATED

Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa, located in Italy's northern region. It originated around the 16th century and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, and pine nuts blended with Parmesan cheese and olive oil.

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.

This fresh and fragrant pasta sauce is served uncooked, so choose a pasta shape that won't overwhelm it. 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.

Today, pesto Genovese is the condiment that best represents Genovese and Ligurian cuisine, and this is why the most famous pesto in Genoa, produced by the Rossi family since 1947, is distributed throughout Italy and in over 15 countries worldwide, sold to restaurants, pizzerias, delicatessens and stores of all sizes, ...

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.

It has a lot in common with the Ligurian pesto—it's rich with nuts, basil, olive oil, garlic, and cheese. But the nuts are almonds, not pine nuts, and there's an additional ingredient that transforms the sauce into something even lighter and more refreshing: tomatoes.

There are four classic Roman pasta dishes: carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and alla Gricia.

Carbonara. The Carbonara we know today is made by tossing spaghetti with guanciale (cured pork jowl), egg yolks, and Pecorino Romano cheese. Despite its simplicity, this dish remains one of Rome and the world's favourites. There are a lot of questions about Carbonara when you first start making it.

While traditional pesto alla Genovese typically includes non-vegetarian cheeses (including Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Sardo), pesto by nature invites interpretation - feel free to substitute the traditional cheese for a vegetarian alternative.

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.

What goes well with basil pesto pasta? ›

Veggies. Sauteed Zucchini Recipe, Roasted Mushrooms, or Roasted Broccoli and Carrots would be scrumptious paired with this pasta. Meatballs. Turkey Meatballs or Chicken Meatballs would be ideal for a protein addition.

Most pesto recipes call for Parmesan cheese; we often use Romano which has a stronger flavor. Basil pesto recipes often call for pine nuts, but you can easily substitute walnuts.

The garnish of pine nuts and cheese lends Genovese pesto its weight and depth, making it ideal as an accompaniment to pasta or for enriching soups. On the other hand, the paring down of ingredients in basil pesto makes it fresh and vibrant, thereby perfect as a spread in sandwiches, salad dressings, or marinades.

Its scarcity, plus the fact that the plants are picked roots, soil, and all to ensure that only juvenile leaves make it into pesto, makes it extraordinarily expensive and something that only premium, artisan pesto makers can justify using.

The Italian Riviera is the home of pesto, as the basil, the base of pesto, really likes the local climate. Basil is mixed with parmigiano (parmesan cheese), garlic, olive oil and pine nut.

Pesto Genovese is what most think of when you say the word “pesto,” and the recipe was first documented in Giovanni Battista Ratto's 1863 book, La Cuciniera Genovese. Since then, the Genovese have fought hard to make their city the undisputed birthplace of pesto.

The classic “Pesto Genovese” has its origin in the small city of Genova in Liguria, Northern Italy. Here, the Italian gastronomist Giovanni Battista Ratto was the first to officially write down the recipe in 1863 with his book on local food cuisine, La Cuciniera Genovese.

Despite the fact that chicken and pesto, chicken and pasta, and chicken and pizza taste good together, they're not common combos in Italy (note: that doesn't mean you won't find them here and there!).

In ancient Rome, a pesto-like paste known as 'moretum' was eaten. Moretum was made by combining crushed cheese, garlic and herbs together. The main ingredient of modern pesto, basil, likely originated from India, and was first domesticated there. Depending on where it is made, the ingredients of pesto can vary.