There’s nothing like the freshness of a homemade basil pesto. Simply a mixture of the fragrant basil leaves, buttery pine nuts, garlic, fruity olive oil and salty Parmesan cheese, it livens up everything from a bowl of summertime pasta like this one, to a grilled steak, a roasted chicken, a vinaigrette or even a vegetable dip. I love a pesto also for its versatility—think outside the box here; swap in parsley, or even broccoli or blanched asparagus for the basil if you so desire, and the nuts don’t always have to be pine nuts; think almonds, walnuts or even pistachios for a modern twist. With this traditional Genovese-style pesto sauce, I tossed in some blanched summer squash, fettuccine and some toasted walnuts for crunch. Healthy, fresh and filled with summertime loveliness.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Summer Squash Spaghetti with Basil Pesto & Walnuts
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dried fettuccine
- 4 summer squash, ends trimmed– the rest cut into half moon shapes
- 3/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
- For the pesto sauce:
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- splash of water
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- For serving: snipped, fresh chives
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the dried pasta and cook, according to package directions, to al dente minus 5 minutes. With 5 minutes left on the timer, add in the cut squash. Drain everything and place in a large mixing bowl, or back into the pasta pot.
- In the bowl of the food processor, add all of the pesto ingredients, except the cheese and salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth and bright green. Stir in the grated cheese and if need be, some more water or oil to make the texture just as you want it. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss the pasta and blanched squash with the pesto sauce and the toasted walnuts.
- Serve warm with snipped, fresh chives.
Tagged: basil pesto, fettuccine, fresh basil, fresh chives, fresh parsley, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, pasta, pesto, pine nuts, spaghetti, squash, summer squash, toasted walnuts, vegetarian, vegetarian pasta, walnuts, yellow squash, zucchini
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