When the first few days of warm weather come, I immediately shed my desire for winter foods and start craving delicious summer salads and mojitos. I also crave sunshine—so I don’t want to be inside cooking after work.
An easy and fast spring-to-summer meal is this Hazelnut Pesto with Angel Hair Pasta. Fresh basil and arugula give this recipe that right-out-of-the-garden taste, and the hazelnut adds a wonderfully nutty, sweet addition. Plus, it’s super easy!
What you’ll need:
1/2 toasted cup hazelnuts
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 cups fresh baby arugula
1 cup fresh basil
1 cup grated parmigiano
1 tsp sea salt
1 tomato
1lb spaghetti/angel hair/linguine (whole wheat or white)
extra virgin olive oil
What to do:
If you have to de-shell your hazelnuts, do this first. If not, start boiling water for your pasta. In the meantime, take your hazelnuts and put them in a blender until they are ice cream topping-sized. Then place them in a small saucepan on high heat for about 2-3 minutes, until you really start to smell the aroma of the nuts
When your water is done boiling, don’t forget to add the pasta, to make this recipe as quick as possible. You want the pasta al dente, as in firm and not overcooked, so once you put the pasta in, it should only be about 3-5 minutes at most.
Back to your blender: Add the toasted hazelnuts, arugula, basil, olive oil (about ¼ cup) and garlic (I used 4 cloves, because I like my pesto with a little punch, but feel free to use 2 cloves, probably no more than 4, though). Blend 30 seconds to 1 minute
Then slowly add the parmigiano and salt. It will look like a gorgeous green purée
Lace the bottom of a large serving dish with some of the pesto, then pour your drained pasta in (saving the pastawater). Add ¼ cup of pasta water (or more, if needed) to the dish, along with the rest of the pesto, and mix.
If you used white pasta, the pasta will soak up the green color of the pesto a bit more; if you used whole wheat, the pasta will be a little less vibrant (but no less tasty). Once mixed, garnish with a few basil leaves, cut tomato slices, drizzled olive oil, and a little more parmigiano.
Enjoy immediately and refrigerate leftovers.
Charlotte Cusumano
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