Best Pesto Pasta Recipe Tips

Tips & make-ahead ideas included. There has been quite a bit of roasted tomatoes and homemade basil pesto coming out of my kitchen lately. And I’ve been having so much fun finding different ways to use them up. Earlier last week, I shared my 20-minute creamy pesto chicken. Many of you made it, doubling the sauce to toss in some pasta. Great idea! But for days you’re craving a straight up vegetarian pesto dinner, like my pesto lemon orzo soup or creamy pesto ravioli, today’s recipe is for you! No chicken needed!

Pesto pasta & caprese pasta in one!

This recipe is basically a bit a hybrid pasta situation that is summer’s best in a bowl. Think caprese pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella (or burrata!), tossed in bright, homemade basil pesto. Sure, you could throw small raw tomatoes in, but for the wow factor, go the extra mile and roast the tomatoes (which you can do ahead of time) so they’re super tender and bursting with intense, concentrated flavor–an extra layer of deliciousness.

Can you just add pesto to pasta?

How hard can tossing a bit of pasta with a little pesto be?! Not very hard at all, but a few things for best flavor and to help preserve the beautiful bright green color and fragrant aroma of your basil pesto:

Which pasta is best with pesto?

You do have a few pasta options to work with here. Yes, it’s true that short and curvy pasta options like rotini and fussili, which I used in my earlier broccoli pesto pasta, do a great job holding on to as much of the sauce as possible. And broccoli pesto is a bit on the thicker side than what we have here. But today, I ended up using thin spaghetti because that’s what I had on hand. Spaghetti is a great option for light oil-based sauces (like this earlier olive oil pasta) but works well in this recipe and makes for a fun presentation. Save large pasta shells, thick pasta tubes, and things like lasagna noodles for a thicker ragu (like in this lasagna soup).

How to make pesto pasta

To make pesto pasta, you can go as simple as tossing your warm pasta with homemade pesto and a bit of the pasta cooking water (following my tips above). But if you like, turn it into a tasty vegetarian entree by adding some roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls. Here is the step-by-step:

Roast the tomatoes. I like small tomatoes for this (campari or even grape tomatoes), cut in half and tossed with extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper. Arrange them on one large sheet, flesh side up, and roast in 450 degrees heated oven for anywhere between 25 and 35 minutes. (You can do this a couple days in advance).

Cook the pasta. I went with 1 pound of thin spaghetti here and cooked it in salted boiling water to al dente (follow your package instructions). Drain, but make sure to keep about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water for later. Toss everything together. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Add the pesto and toss well to make sure the pasta is well-coated (use a bit of that pasta cooking water to help distribute the pesto, if you need to). Give it a taste and add a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper to your liking. Add in the roasted tomatoes and baby mozzarella. Give it another toss to combine. Serve with a garnish of fresh parsley, if you like

Make-ahead tips

Roasted tomatoes and homemade basil pesto can be made a couple of days ahead of time and saved separately in the fridge until needed. You can warm the already cooked tomatoes up in the oven while you cook your pasta. See my earlier quick roasted tomatoes recipe. Basil pesto will last in the fridge a good week, if stored properly in a tight-lid mason jar. See how to make basil pesto for recipe and tips. And if you’re following a stricter Mediterranean diet, use whole grain pasta.

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