This Pesto Tagliatelle features thick strands of pasta coated in an aromatic and flavorful homemade basil pesto sauce.
When it comes to pasta, the long, thick strands of toothsome tagliatelle and pappardelle are my favorites. These are the perfect pastas to toss with a basil pesto sauce because they have a larger surface area to hold onto more sauce.
I always make basil pesto myself (using this recipe). There’s a happy little basil plant growing in my front window as we speak. I love the smell of fresh basil.
Making your own pesto takes very little effort. You’ll need a food processor or stick blender with a chopper to blend it up properly. Once it’s blended, you can keep it in the refrigerator for a few weeks in an airtight container.
The ingredients are:
- Basil
- Parmesan cheese
- Pine nuts
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Salt
There are many uses for it, beyond this pesto tagliatelle and pesto pappardelle. It makes a great sauce for this shaved asparagus salad and this zucchini noodles and shrimp dish. It’s also lovely on potato gnocchi.
One of the best things about this recipe is how simple it is to make. The most difficult thing to mix up is the pesto, and that’s a breeze. Then you just have to boil the pasta and toss the two together.
Making Your Own Pasta
If you want to try your hand at making your own pasta, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s not difficult or scary to make your own pasta.
Here is an incredibly easy homemade pasta recipe that only requires you to mix flour with eggs and knead the dough.
- 2 large eggs
- 200g of 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
Make a mound out of the flour (reserving about 20 grams to use only if necessary). Swirl a whole in the middle of the mound with your fingers. Crack the eggs into the center of the mound.
Using a fork, beat the eggs gently, then start to incorporate the surrounding flour, slowly, until fully combined. Add the extra flour only if the dough is too sticky. Then knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic.
Rolling the Pasta
There are two ways to roll your fresh pasta. You can knead it and roll it out with a rolling pin. This takes a bit of muscle and time, but it’s not difficult. Or you can use a pasta maker. There are three different types of pasta makers.
A manual pasta roller won’t make the pasta for you; it’ll just help with rolling out or cutting shapes. The second option is an attachment for the KitchenAid that rolls out the dough for you.
There is a third, even easier option. If you’ve ever wanted to make fresh pasta, but didn’t want to do the work, you need this.
Check out this amazing electric pasta maker from Hamilton Beach. Fresh, homemade pasta is now as simple as adding ingredients and pushing a button. In 15 minutes or less, you can have pasta that’s ready to boil. The pasta machine mixes, kneads and extrudes the pasta for you.
This electric pasta maker has 7 different pasta shapes: thick spaghetti, lasagna, spaghetti, angel hair, wide noodle, penne and fettuccine. It’s pretty brilliant.
How much homemade pasta per person?
I recommend a 2 ounce serving of fresh pasta per person. Once the pasta is cooked it equals around 1 cup of pasta, which is a decent serving. The recipe above makes 4 servings.
The Pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, if you don’t use it all right away. It’s a great way to make a fresh pasta for lunch with very little effort.
Pesto can also be frozen. I like to fill a large ice cube tray (like this one) with petso and freeze them. Each individual cube is enough for two servings.
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Pesto Tagliatelle Pasta
Ingredients
- 4-6 oz fresh tagliatelle pasta
- 1 oz fresh basil leaves
- 1 oz Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese crumbled
- 2 tbsp pine nuts toasted for extra flavor
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small clove garlic
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water on the stove top and cook the pasta for 3-5 minutes, if fresh (10-12 minutes if dried). Drain and return the pasta to the pot.
- Add the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil and clove to a food processor or chopper attachment. Blend until ingredients are mostly blended. Pesto should still be slightly chunky, not smooth.
- Add the pesto to the pasta. Stir well to coat. Warm the pasta over medium heat. Serve.
Nutrition
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Laura is a home cook who loves making new recipes and finding new favorite things to eat, whether at home or abroad. She also runs a popular travel blog and spends a lot of her time traveling for food.
Tagliatelle is one of my favorite pastas! And I am loving this homemade pesto recipe. 🙂
Homemade pasta is so much easier than people think. This is the perfect recipe to use it up!
Love that this is made with fresh pasta! then a simple pesto to let all that flavor shine through- this will be my next dinner challenge!
Pefectly simple and delicious! Love the homemade pesto.
This pasta looks incredible! I can’t wait to make it for dinner this week!