Grow Your Own: Pesto Pasta
August 14th, 2008 | 
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I love this time of year 
My basil is just out of control and the roma tomatoes are finally coming in strong, so it’s caprese salad or something with pesto regularly now. I also need to get some pesto frozen for the winter. I like to put a tablespoon or so into marinara sauce and this recipe works even with thawed frozen pesto.
This is a really simple recipe, though. Everyone has their own basil pesto recipe, I’m sure, so I’m going beyond that to one of my favorite side dishes featuring pesto – pesto pasta. If your favorite pesto uses an herb other than basil, or cheese other than Parmesan, you can substitute those for the garnish. I like to use rotini pasta, because the crevices catch the pesto and you get a lot in each bite.
Pesto Pasta
1 lb. rotini pasta or other small pasta shape
1 cup basil pesto
1-2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil if needed
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
basil leavesBring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook pasta till al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool; remove to a large bowl. Using a large spatula, mix pasta and pesto together, adding 1-2 tbsp. olive oil if needed to loosen up the pesto. Garnish with diced tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and basil leaves.
This is my entry in the food blogging event Grow Your Own, begun by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and hosted this month by Jessica of Finny Knits.
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I love the idea of putting the pesto in a marinara sauce. Great idea!
Thanks – my husband Dan thought of it, actually. When we don’t have fresh basil in the winter, pesto works great.
We love our pesto and put up lots each year. Much of it goes into the freezer in small containers, then we spoon out what we want for sauces in the winter. And of course our favorite use it to just toss it with pasta and some Parmesan. Delicious! Thanks for sharing again with Grow Your Own!
Hi, Andrea. Yup, I’m getting a nice collection of pesto in the freezer, too. In fact, last spring I made bruschetta with last year’s pesto and it was still very good
Thanks for stopping by – love GYO