Almond Pesto Pasta Recipes

ALMOND PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a pot of generously salted water to boil. Meanwhile, core and quarter tomatoes. Add to blender along with garlic, sugar, and about half the basil, and blend just until coarsely puréed. Add 1 tbsp. oil if needed to loosen it up.
• Add remaining basil, 1/2 cup oil, the salt, pepper, chile flakes, and 1 1/2 cups cheese to blender and pulse to coarsely purée the basil.
• Grind almonds in a clean coffee or spice grinder until they're about the texture of coarse cornmeal.
• Boil pasta until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes for fresh and about 15 for dried. Meanwhile, pour half the sauce into a medium frying pan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Whisk almonds into sauce and let simmer gently until creamy-looking, about 2 minutes. If it doesn't look creamy, add 1 to 2 tbsp. water. Remove from heat.
• Pour remaining sauce into frying pan (swirl a bit of water into sauce clinging to sides of blender and add that too).
• Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Put pasta back in pot and stir sauce into pasta. Reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding pasta water if it looks too thick, until pasta absorbs sauce slightly, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately, sprinkled with more cheese and a few torn basil leaves.
• Make ahead: Sauce, up to 1 week, chilled; up to 4 months, frozen.

PASTA WITH ALMOND-PEA PESTO

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions, adding 1 package of peas during last minute of cooking time. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and peas, and return to pot.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, finely grind almonds. Add lemon zest and juice, remaining package of peas, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; process until well combined. With motor running, gradually add oil; process until smooth.
• Add almond-pea pesto to pasta; toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water (as needed) to adjust consistency of sauce. Season with salt and pepper; serve.

ALMOND PESTO

Steps:

• Add almonds, garlic, spinach, basil, and salt to your food processor and pulse for 10 seconds.
• With the motor still running, pour the olive oil in through the top. If mixture gets stuck add 1-2 tbsp of water.
• Store pesto in a jar in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, or place it in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

ORECCHIETTE WITH ALMOND PESTO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Season well with salt. Add the broccoli rabe to the water and simmer until the stem is just tender when pierced with a knife, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a rimmed baking sheet to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out any extra water with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.
• Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 5 or 6 times. Add the basil, oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Puree until combined and almost smooth. Pour the pesto into a large bowl. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, broccoli rabe and mozzarella and toss well to combine.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season liberally with salt. Add the orecchiette and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or a pasta spider, transfer the pasta directly to the bowl with the pesto. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss everything together until evenly coated.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

EASY BASIL PESTO WITH ALMONDS

Steps:

• Combine basil, Parmesan cheese, almonds, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until blended. Pour in more olive oil, with the processor running, until pesto is thick and smooth.

SMOKED ALMOND PESTO SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente, adding fresh peas during the last 2 minutes of cooking or frozen peas during the last minute. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta and peas.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine almonds and garlic, and pulse until finely chopped. Add basil, parsley, cheese and paprika. With the machine running, drizzle in oil until well blended and a thick sauce forms. Transfer pesto to a large bowl, stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
• Add cooked pasta and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water to the bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat pasta in the pesto, then season again as needed. (Add more pasta water if a thinner consistency is desired.)
• Divide pasta among bowls and garnish with additional cheese and basil.

ALMOND-PEA PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Boil a large pot of salted water, and cook pasta according to directions. When there are about 2 minutes left on pasta, add one of the packages of peas.
• Drain the pasta except for about 1 cup of water, and then return the pasta and water to the pot.
• In a food processor grind the almonds.
• Now add the lemon zest and juice to the to almonds, along with the remaining package of peas, and the salt. Process again. You might have to scrape it down the sides after a minute to make sure it mixes evenly. If the taste is too strong, add more peas.
• Add the olive oil and process again.
• Now add the the sauce to the pasta, tossing it well and adding water as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
• Enjoy!

ALMOND PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Cook pasta in plenty of boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving pasta water if to be used instead of cream.
• Pour boiling water over peas to thaw and drain, place thawed peas with almonds and garlic in food processor and blend coarsely. Scrape down bowl sides, add oil, herbs and salt & blend gain to a medium thick paste. Season well with pepper.
• Spoon into saucepan with pasta & toss over medium heat, adding pasta water or cream, until heated through.
• Serve with topped with parmesan cheese.