{"id":222153,"date":"2019-07-08T23:28:31","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T03:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=222153"},"modified":"2019-07-08T23:28:31","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T03:28:31","slug":"hot-summer-months-calls-for-a-mix-of-pesto-and-pasta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/08\/hot-summer-months-calls-for-a-mix-of-pesto-and-pasta\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot summer months calls for a mix of pesto and pasta"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
It couldn’t be simpler to make; just process fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salty Parmesan cheese, and extra-virgin olive oil together in a food processor. (Pexels Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More light and refreshing than a cream-based sauce or a chunky ragu, pesto makes for an excellent accompaniment to pasta during the hot summer months.<\/p>\n

It couldn’t be simpler to make; just process fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salty Parmesan cheese, and extra-virgin olive oil together in a food processor.<\/p>\n

However, a few challenges arose when we tried to transform the simple sauce into a cold pasta salad topping. When we tossed the pesto directly with hot pasta the sauce became separated and greasy as the pasta cooled.<\/p>\n

We found that spreading the pasta on a baking sheet for about half an hour before adding the pesto was enough to adequately combat the problem. To help prevent the pesto from turning dark over time we added a handful of baby spinach, which set the bright green colour, but was mild enough in flavour to let the basil shine.<\/p>\n

Finally we found that adding some mayonnaise was the perfect way to give our pesto the clingy, thick texture ideal for a pasta salad.<\/p>\n

We finished off our salad by reserving some of the toasted pine nuts to add a nice nutty crunch and tossed in sweet cherry tomatoes for a bright burst of freshness. Other pasta shapes can be substituted for the farfalle.<\/p>\n

PASTA SALAD WITH PESTO<\/p>\n

Servings: 8-10<\/p>\n

Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes<\/p>\n

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled<\/p>\n

1 pound farfalle<\/p>\n

Salt and pepper<\/p>\n

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil<\/p>\n

3 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly bruised<\/p>\n

1 cup baby spinach<\/p>\n

3\/4 cup pine nuts, toasted<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons lemon juice<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (3\/4 cup), plus extra for serving<\/p>\n

6 tablespoons mayonnaise<\/p>\n

12 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered<\/p>\n

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove garlic with slotted spoon and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Let garlic cool slightly, then peel and chop fine; set aside.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook, stirring often, until tender. Reserve 1\/4 cup cooking water. Drain pasta, toss with 1 tablespoon oil, and spread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Let pasta and cooking water cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Process basil, spinach, 1\/4 cup pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt in food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add Parmesan, mayonnaise, and remaining 1\/4 cup oil and process until thoroughly combined; transfer to large bowl.<\/p>\n

Toss cooled pasta with pesto, adding reserved cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until pesto evenly coats pasta.<\/p>\n

Fold in remaining 1\/2 cup pine nuts and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.<\/p>\n

To Make Ahead:<\/p>\n

Cooled pasta can be tossed with half of pesto and refrigerated for up to 3 days; refrigerate remaining pesto separately, covered with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.<\/p>\n

To serve, microwave pasta to remove chill, 1 to 2 minutes, then toss pasta with reserved pesto, adding hot water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until pasta is evenly coated, and continue with the last step.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Nutrition information per serving: 482 calories; 250 calories from fat; 28 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 9 mg cholesterol; 316 mg sodium; 47 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 11 g protein.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https:\/\/www.americastestkitchen.com<\/a>\u00a0. Find more recipes like Pasta Salad with Pesto in \u201cThe Complete Make-Ahead Cookbook .\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

America’s Test Kitchen provided this article to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More light and refreshing than a cream-based sauce or a chunky ragu, pesto makes for an excellent accompaniment to pasta …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":222154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","mauthors-americas-test-kitchen","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222155,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222153\/revisions\/222155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}