Julie Goodwin shares her big bold pesto pasta salad that’s versatile to take to a barbecue or a quick and easy summer dinner when fresh basil is at its sweetest and most plentiful.
“The best part about the warmer months is eating outdoors. A simple platter of barbecued goodness, a big bowl of salad leaves with a simple vinaigrette, and a substantial salad – like this delicious pesto pasta – and feeding the family is simple and joyful.” – Julie.
Ingredients
Method
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and toss through a little olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.
Place the parmesan into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the pine nuts, basil, rocket, garlic, salt, pepper and half of the olive oil. Blitz until combined but still a little bit chunky.
Place the pasta into a large bowl and toss through the pesto, tomatoes, semi-dried tomatoes, bocconcini, spring onions, lemon zest, juice and remaining oil. Serve pesto pasta salad at room temperature.
Julie’s tips for making pesto pasta salad
Some say that blanching the basil in hot water and shocking it in ice water will give pesto a more vibrant green result.
I don’t like adding extra steps to recipes where I don’t need to, but I do find the following helps:
How to store basil
Basil keeps best out of the fridge. Cold makes it go brown. Trim the stems of your cut basil when you buy it and put it in a generous amount of fresh water and keep it out on the kitchen bench.
If you refresh the water every few days it will last many times longer than if it is refrigerated and may even grow roots and be able to be planted.
If you buy basil that has roots and soil attached, you can plant it directly into a pot or your garden and keep well-watered.
How to prevent pesto from going brown
The addition of lemon juice in this pesto pasta salad recipe also halts the oxidisation that makes the pesto go brown.
The other way to achieve a bright green pesto is to amp up the green ingredients in the ratio. More basil, more rocket or baby spinach or another green leafy vegetable will help with the colour.
