Garlic and almond pesto rosso

If you can’t already tell from looking across this site, I do like a good variety of quick, easy, delicious pasta recipes to pick from. And this one’s no different.

It’s easy to sometimes feel like I’m in a bit of a pasta rut, making the same handful of sauces over and over. So this one isn’t your standard, every-day tomato sauce. It’s a vibrant, aromatic, red pesto packed full of zingy garlic, rich sun-dried tomatoes and made from just four ingredients… about as complicated as a game of snap. Oh, and the almonds give it some crunch for something a bit different.

As with every other pasta dish…. RESERVE. YOUR. COOKED. PASTA. WATER. This one absolutely laps it up.

Serves: 2

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Method

Take all your ingredients other than the almonds and throw them into a blender. Add a glug of the oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes (if there is none, use some olive oil) and whizz it up until everything comes together. You don’t want big chunks of garlic, so really go to town on it. If it’s a bit too thick and clumpy, add another small drop of olive oil and blend it again to loosen it up.

Take your handful of almonds and crush them in a pestle and mortar so that they’re crumbly but not too fine, otherwise you’ll lose the nutty crunch that really elevates this dish. Stir the crushed nuts into the pesto and set aside.

Cook your pasta per the packet instructions, but save two mugs’ worth of the pasta water just before draining. I know it’s a lot, but this pesto really does drink it up quickly!

Drain your pasta and leave it aside while you use the same pot to fry off the pesto in a little olive oil over a low heat, acting quickly so that you don’t end up with a gloop of pasta stodge waiting for you. After 10 seconds of sizzling and stirring, add a splash of the pasta water and stir some more. Let it bubble before adding another large splash of the water and stirring. The pesto should feel a little looser and ready to welcome the pasta back into the pot. Throw the pasta in, stirring furiously as you add more pasta water a bit at a time until you have your desired, saucy consistency. It’ll take a few minutes.

Check for seasoning (if you need a little lift, it’s a good idea to season the pasta water before you stir it in as opposed to throwing salt directly into the pot).

Serve with loads of parmigiano reggiano and black pepper. Bon appetit!

TIPS

• Add salt to your pasta water only once it’s boiled - it takes longer to boil if you add it earlier.

• It’s important to really season your pasta water well before cooking, especially given this dish takes a lot of that starchy water to finish the dish at the end. If it’s not seasoned enough, your final sauce may lose its mojo a little.

• If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, improvise! Lay out your nuts on the kitchen counter and use your flat bottom of your smallest pan to crush them. Or pulse them in the blender for less than one second (before you get it messy with the other ingredients). Or, if you’re feeling macho, crush them with your bare hands! Who cares? As long as you get there in the end.

• Lift this (or any pasta) dish with this easy pangrattato. It adds a whole new level to your pasta game.