A quick dinner of your favourite pasta coated in bright basil pesto. Make it garlicky, cheesy, salty or add a touch of heat — whatever you prefer.
Ready in 15 minutes, including making your own homemade pesto.
Pesto pasta is perfect when you want something quick, filling and full of flavour.
You can use store-bought basil pesto for convenience, but homemade pesto is more vibrant and easy to tweak to your taste — add a fresh chilli for heat, swap basil for some leftover rocket, or use walnuts instead of pine nuts.
It takes only a few minutes to blend the pesto while the pasta cooks, so you’ll have a fresh, restaurant-quality dinner in no time.
📋 Pesto Sauce Ingredients
- Fresh basil – a generous bunch
- Extra-virgin olive oil – good quality if possible
- Garlic – for aromatic flavour
- Parmesan (or a vegetarian hard Italian-style cheese)
- Pine nuts – for a creamy, nutty texture
- Salt and black pepper
🔪 How to make Pesto Pasta
Full recipe with step-by-step instructions is included in the recipe card below.
- Cook the spaghetti until al dente in a large pan of boiling salted water. Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.
- While the pasta cooks, pulse basil, garlic, pine nuts, grated parmesan, salt and pepper in a small food processor for a few seconds to break down the garlic and nuts.
- With the motor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady stream until the pesto reaches your preferred texture. If using a blender, add half the oil first, blend, then add the rest and blend again.
- Taste and adjust seasoning — add a little more salt or pepper if needed.
- Toss the pesto with the hot pasta and add a splash of the reserved pasta water so the sauce loosens and coats the spaghetti evenly.
👩🍳PRO TIP Add 1/2 tsp Maldon salt into the blender before you pulse, then taste and adjust after blending. The flaky salt gives a nice finishing crunch if sprinkled on just before serving.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Garlic bread for a bold, garlicky pairing.
- A simple green salad dressed with vinaigrette to lighten the meal.
- Chunks of crispy chicken or pan-fried salmon make a hearty topping for kids and adults alike.
🍲 More fantastic quick pasta recipes
Quick & Easy
Creamy Cajun Prawn Pasta
Pasta
Penne Arrabbiata with Mozzarella and Chorizo
Quick & Easy
Pan Fried Salmon and Spaghetti with Lemon Cream Sauce
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Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 400 g (14 oz) dried spaghetti
Pesto:
- 50 g (1.75 oz) fresh basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 40 g (3 tbsp) pine nuts
- 30 g (1/3 cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp Maldon salt
- 90 ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
To Serve:
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- 1 handful of fresh baby basil leaves
Instructions
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Add the dried spaghetti to a large pan of salted boiling water and cook for 10–13 minutes, or until it reaches your preferred texture.
-
While the pasta cooks, make the pesto.
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Place the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan, black pepper and Maldon salt in a food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds to break everything up.
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With the processor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady stream until the pesto reaches the texture you like. For chunkier pesto stop sooner; blend longer for a smoother sauce.
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Taste the pesto and add more salt or pepper if needed, then set it aside.
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When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
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Return the spaghetti to the pan, add the pesto and a splash (about 1/3 cup) of the reserved pasta water.
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Toss the pasta over low heat until the sauce clings to the spaghetti. Add more pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.
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Divide between bowls and finish with black pepper, extra grated Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, and baby basil leaves.
Notes
Note 1 – How to toast pine nuts
Place pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat and stir or toss often until golden, about 2–4 minutes. Watch closely — they burn quickly. Remove from the pan promptly to stop further browning.
Toasting ahead
Toast a larger batch to use on salads or toasties. Once cooled, store toasted pine nuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost before use.
Storage
Store pesto in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week. Colour may fade slightly but the flavour remains. For longer storage freeze portions (ice cube tray works well) and defrost as needed.
Ingredient swaps
- Swap spaghetti for short pasta like rigatoni, fusilli or penne.
- Swap pine nuts for walnuts, almonds or cashews.
- Use vegetarian hard cheese instead of Parmesan to keep the recipe meat-free.
- Add a green chilli before blending, or stir in 1/4 tsp chilli flakes for heat.
Nutritional information is approximate, per serving. This recipe serves 4.
Nutrition
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Carbohydrates: 79g
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Protein: 19g
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Fat: 35g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.
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