Pistachio Pesto Spaghetti
PISTACHIO PESTO SPAGHETTI
Serves 4-6
Takes 30 minutes
½ cup roasted, salted pistachios
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup finely shredded parmesan (or other hard cheese)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
15 twists freshly ground black pepper
4 cups lightly packed basil leaves
½ cup packed parsley leaves
¾ cup olive oil
16 ounces spaghetti
In a food processor, combine pistachios and garlic. Pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add parmesan, salt and pepper and process until combined. Add basil and parsley. It will probably fill the full bowl. Continue processing until basil and parsley are roughly chopped. You can get as fine as you like, but I tend to leave mine a little chunkier (aka more rustic) because I like a big bite of basil in my pesto (as opposed to one that’s perfectly smooth.
Using a spatula, remove basil mixture to a small bowl. Gently fold in olive oil until it coats the herbs well. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add pasta and cook according to package direction. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.
In the same pot you cooked the pasta in, add the pesto and half the pasta water. Stir until smooth. Add the cooked noodles and toss with tongs until well-coated. Add more pasta water, if needed, to loosen.
