Salad pasta pesto

Name: Salad pasta pesto
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 350 g / 12oz spiral pasta ((fusilli, or other of choice, 3 1/2 cups)); 1 tbsp salt (, for cooking pasta); 2 tbsp pinenuts (, toasted (sub walnuts, cashews, almonds)); 2 cups (tightly packed) basil leaves; 1 small garlic clove (, minced); 1/2 cup parmesan (, finely grated); 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper; 7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ((or 50/50 grapeseed/olive oil)); 2 tbsp mayonnaise ((S&W, else Hellman's, Note 2)); 250 g (1 heaped cup) cherry tomatoes, cut in half; 220 g / 7 oz baby bocconcini (, drained, cut in half (Note 3)); 1 cup (tightly packed) baby rocket/arugula leaves (40g); 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt; Small basil leaves (, optional garnish)

Recipe video above. Don't skimp on pesto, and don't be shy with olive oil. If you do, you'll end up staring at a mound of flavour-lacking, dry pesto pasta salad, thinking "darn it, I should have just followed the recipe!".PS Just 2 tablespoons of mayo is the secret here. Just g

⏱ 30 min 🔨 Prep 15min 🔥 Cook 15min 📊 Medium 🍽 5 servings ⭐ 5.0 (20) 👁 7

Instructions

Cook pasta - Bring 3 litres of water to the boil with the salt. Cook for the pasta packet time + 1 minute. Drain in a colander, rinse under cold water. Shake off excess water well, then allow to fully cool and dry.
Pesto - Place all ingredients in a tall jug just large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz under pretty smooth. Not a green smoothie, we still want some visible green bits! but not chunks.
Toss - Place pasta in a bowl, scrape in the pesto. Add mayonnaise then toss well. Add bocconcini and tomato, toss gently just to disperse. Add rocket/arugula and toss just to disperse.
Serve - Transfer into a serving bowl. Scatter with basil leaves, if using. Serve!

Rice & Noodles highly ratedcold pasta saladpesto pasta saladvegetarian pasta saladwestern

Nutrition per serving

Protein21g

Carbs57g

Fat40g

663kcal

21gProtein

57gCarbs

40gFat

💰 Cost Estimate

Total Ingredients
$1086.00

Per Serving
$217.00/serving

🏠 Savings
~$2172.00 vs buying!

📋 Price Breakdown (67% ingredients detected)

Ingredient	Amount	Subtotal
/ 12oz spiral pasta	350 g	$138.00
salt	1 tbsp	$3.00
pinenuts	2 tbsp	-
	2 cups	-
garlic clove	1 small	$198.00
parmesan	0.5 cup	$130.00
cooking/kosher salt	0.5 tsp	$1.00
black pepper	0.25 tsp	$6.00
extra virgin olive oil	7 tbsp	$241.00
mayonnaise	2 tbsp	$13.00
	250 g	-
/ 7 oz baby bocconcini	220 g	$355.00
	1 cup	-
cooking/kosher salt	0.5 tsp	$1.00
Small basil leaves	-	-