Almond Pesto Fettucini Pasta
We love Italian food, but when it comes to pasta, its hard to break away from the tried and tested tomato-basil sauce or creamy alfredo sauce. But recently, I've been experimenting with different types of Pesto, and what better way to use up all that sauce other tha blending it with pasta to make this delicious Almond Pesto Fettucini!! Some time back, I made the walnut-cilantro pesto, and this time around, I chose the Almond and Parsely along with Basil to make my pesto sauce. Unlike pine nuts, almonds impart a smoother texture and a unique taste, especially when you use blanched almonds. Adding parsely adds an ever-so-mild kick to the pesto, which works great if you want to use this as a pasta sauce! I used regular Fettucine, but you could go for the spinach or whole-wheat one too. This Almond Pesto Fettucini is a welcome alternative to usual pasta recipes, and the Pesto can also be used as a light dressing for a pasta salad.Ingredients
9 oz fettucini pasta
1/3 cup whole blanched almonds
1 and 1/2 cup fresh basil
1 cup fresh parsely
4 tbsp lemon juice
** adjust to taste, you may need more if using as pasta sauce
3 large garlic cloves
1/2-1 tsp salt
5 tbsp + 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Method
Almond Pesto
Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add lemon juice, garlic, basil, parsely, salt and parmesan cheese; process until finely chopped.
With the food processor running, gradually add olive oil and process until smooth. Keep scraping the sides while you pulse, and add olive oil a little at a time to make a smooth pesto. Set aside for later use, or store it in an air-tight box and refrigerate.
Pesto Fettucini
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta; cook according to package instructions until done. I generally add 1 tsp oil and a pinch of salt while the pasta is cooking so they don't stick to each other and get cooked faster.
Once done, drain the fettucini, then wash under cold running water and add 2 tsp olive oil. This will prevent the noodles from sticking or clumping and also help them get properly flavored when pesto is added.
When ready to serve, add the pesto to the fettucini, season with some more salt and ground black pepper if desired and mix well.
Transfer the Almond Pesto Fettucini to serving bowls and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Off this goes to Archana's Kitchen for the One-Dish Meal roundup!
Related Recipes:
Vegetarian Schezwuan Hakka Noodles
Baked Rigatoni with Homemade Marinara Sauce
Asian-style Spagetti with Garlic & Cilantro
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23 comments :
Slurp! Love Alfredo sauce. Almonds, never tried Pesto with those nuts,looks yum!:)
Pesto looks divine, Mansi! Nice use of almonds! :)
Almonds in pesto sounds really good! Gotta' try it.
that looks and sounds awesome Mansi! love the almond twist:) I can always trust you to be creative!!:D
~sharon
that's a nice recipe, easy too. i have been thinking of experimenting with pasta a bit as well. the only one i have tried is spaghetti in tomato sauce :D
Actually, I don't eat cream sauces but pesto is second to tomato sauce for me-- it's so refreshing! :) The dish looks soo yummy!
Almond pesto sounds good. I should try this.
delicious pasta!
love the combination! though pine nuts are my favorite, I'm happily curious to try this almond pesto!
-amy
thanks ppl! yes, this pesto recipe rocks, it is seriously good!! just like Amy, I LOVE pine nuts, but I have to say Almonds do lend a much richer texture to the sauce, and I'm glad I discovered a new recipe for our pasta dinners!:)
glad you'll liked it too!!
Almon, parsley..nice...I'm giving it a try..I made an almond-orange pesto on an instinct basis..was quite good
Yummy i love continetal big time and finding always excuses to eat them . i hvnt tried it with this nuts..
u rock mansi... i have been thinking of using almonds in pesto but never got enough time to cook. thanks for the reminder ;)
and lovely picture...
I'm a huge pesto freak. I love trying different combinations of nuts and herbs.
If you want a really great pesto idea, try this one http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/orecchiette-with-pistachio-pesto. You would not believe how good the combination of pistachios and percorino is.
never tried pastas.Got to try this yummy recipe soon.Thanks for sharing
looks yummy...I love alfredo sauce!
Almond Pesto, thats very interesting. :) Mansi one question, how many people does this serve approx? Just so I don't make too much of the pesto.
Namratha - this recipe should be enough for 3-4 people (we were 3, but we eat more!:)), and if you have some more pesto, you can always store it and keep it in the fridge!:) it would stay good for 2 weeks.
that looks absolutely delicious!!
I too was always a traditional pesto person until recently. So I'm excited to try this almond pesto. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.
Just made this and it's great. Almonds are a great and tasty substitute for pine nuts and they are way cheaper and hard to get here. Lemon juice not really necessary as tends to dominate too much I think, so use less anyhow. Coriander leaves (cilantro) is a good substitute for parsley to my taste.
Charles in Botswana
This Pesto recipe is awesome, I love the use of lemon, which you don’t see as frequently. I pulled together a video of my own pesto recipe for Spaghetti Pesto and Chicken - (www.noreciperequired.com/recipe/spaghetti-pesto-chicken) – thought you may be interested.
It look good to see the pasta Thanks for sharing the recipe i will try this in my home.
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