Fresh Italian basil leaves - 2 cups, tightly packed
Raw whole cashew - 15 to 18, toasted (or ¼ cup pine nuts)
Garlic - 2 cloves
Extra virgin olive oil - ½ cup
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional) - ¼ cup, grated
For Pesto Pasta:
Spaghetti - 200 gms
Instructions
First chop the garlic cloves in your food processor.
Then add all the basil leaves in the processor and process until all the leaves are finely chopped.
Now add the toasted cashew or the nuts you are using. Process them until broken into tiny pieces.
Now start pouring the olive oil through the feeding tube keeping the processor on. Stop in between. open the lid of the processor and give a stir using a spatula.
Process until all the oil is incorporated. You may increase or decrease (I won't recommend to decrease though!) the olive oil as per your preference.
Season with salt & pepper and add the Parmesan cheese if using. Process one final time for 5 seconds and you are done with basil pesto.
Transfer the basil pesto in an air tight jar and reserve upto 7 days in refrigerator and a month in freezer.
To make the pesto pasta, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water as per packet instructions or till al-dente. If you are draining the pasta, make sure to reserve a cup of pasta water.
Heat a skillet and add about ¼ cup of basil pesto in it. Once the pesto warms up, add cooked spaghetti and start mixing it with pesto.
Add little pasta water to ease the mixing of pesto and spaghetti. Don't worry, your pesto pasta won't be watery. Pasta will soak up all the water leaving you a crispy pesto pasta.
You can add little more pesto and mix it in. The amount of pesto totally depends on your liking. I load up a lot of pesto on my pasta but a ratio of ¼ cup of pesto per 2 servings should be good enough, but that's just a basic guideline.
Pair up your basil pesto spaghetti with a summer friendly grilled chicken and enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at http://www.flavorquotient.com/2022/06/basil-pesto-spaghetti/