Already pesto is good. Pesto pasta is even better. A creamy pesto pasta however... now, that is the best!
A traditional Italian pasta with pesto is already incredible. Making it even more creamy and silky smooth, however, gives new flavors turning it into something so delicious, one serving will not be enough!
I recently visited this incredible Italian restaurant where I saw someone order what looked and smelled like the most incredible pesto. The smell stayed with me for so long that I knew I had to recreate it as soon as possible. I knew it couldn't have been done with a simple pesto, there had to be something else involved. Although not traditional, it is still one of my favorite pastas that I have made and definitely one you need to try!
Recipe Details
Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh basil
2/3 cup of pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
500g of pasta of your choosing (for this, I recommend a pasta that will thoroughly hold the sauce)
1/2 cup of spinach
1 a lemon
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of salt
2 teaspoons of pepper
1 box of firm tofu
3/4 cup of water
Description:
1. Start by putting the 2/3 cup of pine nuts into a pan and lightly toasting them, moving the pan constantly to keep the pine nuts from burning. In the meantime, using a blender (or a mortar and pestle if you desire), put in the 1 cup of basil, the 2 cloves of garlic, the 1/2 cup of spinach, the 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and the juice from 1/2 a lemon. Once the pine nuts have toasted and are lightly tanned, add them to the blender. Blend everything together until a pasty consistency is reached. If it looks like it is took thick or not well blended, slowly add in small amounts of olive oil until the proper consistency is reached. From there, pour all of the pesto into a bowl and set aside.
2. Next, put a pot of water with some salt on to boil. Once the water begins to boil, pour in the 500g of the pasta of your choosing. As the pasta cooks, in the washed out blender, put in the 1 box of tofu, along with the 3/4 cup of water and the juice from the other 1/2 lemon and blend for several minutes until the tofu is well mixed creating a smooth, creamy consistency.
3. Once the pasta has finished cooking, in a pan on medium-high heat, add a small amount of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Drain the pasta, setting aside one cup of pasta water and add all of the pasta directly to the pan. Move the pasta around in the pan to keep it from burning and add in the pesto. Mix all the pasta and pesto together until it is all well distributed adding in small amounts of pasta water if necessary.
4. As soon as everything is well mixed, begin to pour in the tofu cream and continue mixing everything together. Once everything is properly mixed together and is all equally distributed, add the 2 teaspoons of pepper, and salt to taste. Now the only thing left to do is plate it up and enjoy!
Try it and Let Me Know What YOU think!
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please send me a picture of what you make! I would love to see how other people interpret the recipe and if there are any additions that you made!
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