A delicious spiced Red Pesto Pasta Sauce. The sweetness of sun-dried tomatoes, creaminess of pine nuts, punch of garlic and heat of chilli blitzed together. Perfect!
Searching for a quick, easy meal? Red Pesto Pasta is a quick to make pasta dish that uses just a few basic ingredients. I love the punch that the garlic and chilli give to this recipe, balancing the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts.
There are various versions of red pesto, and fresh basil, red peppers or parmesan are amongst other ingredients sometimes used.
A great dish to have on standby is one with a recipe that doesn't rely on fresh ingredients or ones that have a short shelf life. I don't always have parmesan or fresh basil to hand. So, aside from its great taste, for me what makes this recipe version of Red Pesto Pasta so useful to have, is that I can be sure to have all ingredients to hand.
The perfect dish when you don't know what to make but do know you want something quick!
Jump to:
Ingredients for Red Pesto Sauce
- pasta. I really love the spirali pasta for this recipe. Like little corkscrews, they have ridges that capture the sauce, and are really easy to fork into and eat. Most pasta will work well. My other favourites include spaghetti, penne and fusilli.
- sun-dried tomatoes in oil. Go for sun-dried tomatoes soaked in oil (rather than demi-sec dry sun-dried tomatoes) as these do not need preparation ahead of time.
- garlic cloves. Garlic varies greatly in strength and size of cloves. You may not need more than 1 clove. Raw garlic taste can be harsh and overwhelming so it is best to start with a smaller amount of garlic and build up.
- pine nuts.
- chilli flakes.
- extra virgin oil. I prefer a light, fruity tasting extra virgin oil.
- vinegar. Either wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar works well with this recipe.
How to make Red Pesto Pasta
- Boil the water. Follow the pasta packet instructions for the amount of water needed to cook 16oz (500g) of pasta, put in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt. I generally add about 1 tablespoon. This helps to bring out the flavour of the pasta, rather than making it salty.
- Cook the pasta. Add 16oz (500g) pasta to the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes less than indicated on its wrapping, then start testing the pasta for an al dente texture (the pasta still has a bit of texture when bitten into). Whilst the pasta is cooking prepare the Red Pesto Sauce.
- Prepare the garlic. Peel and roughly chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic. If the garlic seems strong or the cloves are large, start with just 1 clove of garlic.
- Process the sauce ingredients. Put the garlic cloves, 2oz (60g) sun-dried tomatoes, ½ teaspoon chilli flakes, 3 tablespoons pine nuts, 6 tablespoons extra virgin oil and 1 or 2 teaspoons of wine (or balsamic) vinegar into a food processor or blender. Pulse blitz the ingredients to form a smooth sauce.
- Taste check. Do a taste check of the sauce and add extra chilli or garlic if needed, blitzing again. Bear in mind that the taste will be quite intense without the pasta to soften it.
- Drain pasta. Once the pasta has reached that al dente texture, drain the pasta and reserve a cup of the pasta water.
- Add sauce. Return the pasta to the warm saucepan and add half of the pesto sauce. Stir the sauce into the pasta gently so that the pasta is evenly coated. If the sauce seems to be too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it. Add more of the pesto sauce if you would prefer a thicker coating of sauce. Serve the Red Pesto Pasta hot, or keep for later as a cold pasta salad.
More Quick Pasta Recipes
Looking for more quick pasta recipe ideas? If you have a can of tomatoes in the cupboard, how about Crème Fraîche Tomato Pasta or Penne Napoli? For the simplest of pasta dishes, it is hard to beat Garlic Butter Pasta. Something a little fancier, but still quick? Try this Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Pasta dish.
📋 Recipe Card
Red Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta (such as spirali, fusilli or spaghetti)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 21/2 tablespoon pine nuts
- 6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 teaspoon wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Boil the water. Follow the pasta packet instructions for the amount of water needed to cook 16oz (500g) of pasta, put in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt. I generally add about 1 tablespoon. This helps to bring out the flavour of the pasta, rather than making it salty.
- Cook the pasta. 16oz (500g) pasta to the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes less than indicated on its wrapping, then start testing the pasta for an al dente texture (the pasta still has a bit of texture when bitten into). Whilst the pasta is cooking prepare the Red Pesto Sauce.
- Prepare the garlic. Peel and roughly chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic. If the garlic seems strong or the cloves are large, start with just 1 clove of garlic.
- Process the sauce ingredients. Put the garlic cloves, 2oz (60g) sun-dried tomatoes, ½ teaspoon chilli flakes, 3 tablespoons pine nuts, 6 tablespoons extra virgin oil and 1 or 2 teaspoons of wine (or balsamic) vinegar into a food processor or blender. Pulse blitz the ingredients to form a smooth sauce.
- Taste check. Do a taste check of the sauce and add extra chilli or garlic if needed, blitzing again. Bear in mind that the taste will be quite intense without the pasta to soften it.
- Drain pasta. Once the pasta has reached that al dente texture, drain the pasta and reserve a cup of the pasta water.
- Add sauce. Return the pasta to the warm saucepan and add half of the pesto sauce. Stir the sauce into the pasta gently so that the pasta is evenly coated. If the sauce seems to be too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it. Add more of the pesto sauce if you would prefer a thicker coating of sauce. Serve the Red Pesto Pasta hot, or keep for later as a cold pasta salad.
Leave a Reply