I have made this a couple of times when we have had friends over for dinner. It always goes over really well. There are tons of compliments and even a few requests for a copy of the recipe, which I am always more than happy to share. Just to make it feel like more of a dinner, and to give our house a bit of that Italian restaurant feel, I will usually match this up with a nice fresh garden salad and some bread sticks. It kind of makes me feel like we are out to eat!
Check out what they are saying about this recipe over at Cravings Of A Lunatic:
“This pasta is simple to make yet packed with flavor. Quick, tasty and sure to be a hit with family and friends!”
Just be prepared to have enough to go around… this is going to go quickly!
Ingredients
1 lb or 454 g of Barilla mini penne, or regular penne pasta
1 jar of Hunt’s sun-dried tomatoes in oil (about 10 oz or 300 ml)
3 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil (you can use fresh, I was out of fresh)
¼ cup fresh, grated parmesan (more for garnish if you like)
¼ cup walnuts
¼ olive oil if needed, more or less depending how thick or thin you like your pesto
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water and place over medium-high heat on the stove. Bring the water to a boil. Add salt generously. Add pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water in case you want to add it to the dish later. Set that aside. Then use a slotted spoon to lift out the noodles and transfer them to the large pan. Do not drain, do not rinse.
Meanwhile toss your sun-dried tomatoes, the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, the garlic, salt, white pepper, sweet basil, parmesan and walnuts in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. If the mixture is still too thick add a touch of olive oil to start and pulse while adding the oil until you get the desired consistency you like. It’s always best to start with a little, you can always add more but you can’t take away. So go easy initially and add oil to taste if needed.
Transfer pesto to a large non-stick pan and heat on medium heat just before adding the cooked noodles. Remember to reserve 1 cup of pasta water to add later. Start pulling out your cooked noodles and add them to the pan with the pesto. Toss while adding, and continue tossing to coat the noodles with the pesto. You can start by adding about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water and then toss the pasta. If you need more pasta water to thicken the pasta you can add until you get the desired thickness you like. I added almost all of it to mine to thicken it.
If desired add some freshly grated parmesan over top.
Serve with a big old pasta loving smile!
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Quick Tip: I like to double up on the pesto just to make a wetter pasta… use as much olive oil as you want to achieve your desired thickness.
Thanks again to Cravings Of A Lunatic for this yummy recipe.
