How to make Cashew Pesto Pasta, pasta in a delicious pesto made with basil and cashews.
If you love pesto, you need to try making this Cashew Pesto Pasta recipe with a blender. I love basil, but I don’t love how terribly it lasts before it starts wilting and turn sad! Whenever I have some basil, I find myself in a rush to whip up dishes which uses basil. One of my FAVOURITE ways of using basil – besides in my Thai basil stir fries – would be to make pesto!
Pesto is very versatile. You can use it in pastas, salads, as a dip – it’s a useful condiment to have around! Classic pesto calls for basil and pine nuts, but I rarely use pine nuts since they’re not easily available in my local supermarkets. Plus, they’re expensive. Instead I use roasted cashews, which incidentally is my favourite snack of all time so that’s how this Cashew Pesto Pasta recipe became a go-to in my home.
Why you will LOVE this Pesto Recipe?
- It’s QUICK and EASY! Whack everything in a blender, and your sauce is done. Simply toss pasta through, and you have a meal ready.
- It requires minimal ingredients! Minus the pasta noodles, the pesto sauce uses just 7 ingredients.
- I use a blender! Instead of a food processor, I use a blender here since it’s what I always have on my kitchen counter. I also don’t have to wash a bunch of separate components like with a food processor after.
How to make Cashew Pesto Pasta?
- Add roasted cashews, basil, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper into a blender.
- Pulse the blender, to break down some of the cashews first.
- Then slowly pour in olive oil and pulse the blender further.
- Continue to blend until you get a rough paste!
What do you need to make Cashew Pesto?
- Basil Leaves: HEAPS of Italian Sweet Basil is needed to make pesto.
- Cashew Nuts: I use ready-made roastew cashew nuts – the same ones you snack on! If you are using raw cashews, make sure to either dry toast it or toast it in the oven first before blending.
- Parmesan
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
Can I use Pine Nuts?
Yes, of course! As mentioned, the only reason I do not use pine nuts is because it’s not a common ingredient at our local supermarkets. Even in the few rare times you can find it, it’s expensive.
To use pine nuts, simply replace the cashew nuts with pine nuts in weight. You can also do a half cashew/half pine nut combo.
With the pine nuts, you want to dry toast it over low heat, until it’s roasty and fragrant before blending it in.
How to Store Pesto?
Pesto can keep for a week in the fridge, and even longer in the freezer. Make sure to push the pesto paste underneath the olive oil, to keep the freshness. This will also prevent the basil from turning dark.
More recipes like this
Cashew Pesto Pasta
Course: Recipes2
servings15
minutes10
minutesIngredients
2 servings Pasta of Choice
1-2 tbsps Pasta Water
Garnish with more parmesan
- Pesto Sauce
1/4 cup or about 50g roasted cashew nuts
2 loose cup basil leaves
1/4 cup parmesan
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, with extra
Directions
- Add the cashew nuts in the blender first. Pulse so that the cashew nuts are not in big chunks for easier blending of the sauce later on.
- Once cashew nuts are not whole, add the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil.
- Turn blender on, and slowly pour in the olive oil. Periodically give the blender a stir, and continue to pulse and pour in olive oil. Once you get a pesto paste, the sauce is done!
- Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente. Keep a couple tablespoons of the pasta water, or the water the pasta was boiled in.
- Add a couple tablespoons of the pesto sauce in a bowl. It is best to work 1-2 servings of pasta at a time.
- Add the pasta to the bowl, along wth a couple tablespoons of pasta water. Continuously toss the pasta through in the bowl, until you get a nice, saucy pasta. Garnish with more parmesan – serve immediately!
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