Pesto Pasta

Pesto is a traditional Italian pasta sauce, usually made by grinding together garlic, basil leaves, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. It is a nice, fragrant, herbal sauce that is a vibrant green in colour. Since it is hard to get pine nuts here in the Maldives, we have used almonds instead.

As for the spaghetti, we used Armando Spaghetti, provided to us by one of our partners, Standard and Origin (S&O). Armando Spaghetti is a product of Italy, made from 100% Italian durum wheat. It has a nice, bouncy texture when cooked and is quick and easy to prepare.

Serving size: 3

Ingredients:

For cooking the spaghetti

• 5 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 250g Armando Spaghetti (about half a packet)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the pesto paste

• ¼ cup almonds
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil

For the chicken

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250g chicken breast (cut into around ½-inch pieces)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt

For the pesto pasta sauce

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup cooking cream
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp salt

Instructions:

1. To cook the spaghetti, first add 5 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a large pot. Let it boil for 10 minutes on high heat or until rapid bubbles start forming on the surface of the water.
2. Then, add in 250g Armando Spaghetti and boil for 6-7 minutes or until the pasta is al dente (the pasta will be soft but has a slight firmness when you bite into it). This means just 1 minute before the pasta is fully cooked.
3. Once the pasta is cooked, take ¼ cup of pasta water and set it aside.
4. Drain the rest of the water and add the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Then, mix in 1 tbsp olive oil to make sure that it doesn’t stick together. Set aside.
5. Now, to prepare the pesto paste. For this, first grind ¼ cup almonds in a blender on high speed for 30 seconds or until it has a very fine texture.
6. Scrape down the ground almonds on the side of the blender. Then, add 1 cup fresh basil leaves, 2 minced garlic cloves, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 4 tsp lemon juice, and 3 tbsp olive oil into the blender. Blend for 45 seconds on high speed, then scrape down the sides again and blend for another 45 seconds or until the garlic is fully grinded. Once done, it will be a wet paste with a vibrant green colour. Set it aside.
7. To a pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil and heat it up for 30 seconds on high heat. Then, add in 250g chicken breast (cut into 1/2-inch pieces) and sauté for 1 minute.
8. Then, add 1 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tsp salt. Mix the seasonings with the chicken and continue sautéing for 3 more minutes or until the chicken pieces are fully cooked, with a light brown crust on the outside. To check if the chicken is cooked, make a small cut on the meat; the inside should be white all the way through, not pink. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
9. Next, in a pan, melt 3 tbsp unsalted butter on low heat for around 2-3 minutes. Then, increase the heat to high and add in 5 finely chopped garlic cloves. Sauté for 2 minutes or until the garlic is lightly browned. After that, add in 2 tsp chilli flakes and mix with the garlic and butter for 1 minute on medium heat.
10. Then, add in ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes, the prepared pesto paste, and the ¼ cup pasta water that was set aside earlier. Stir to mix everything together for 2 minutes.
11. Then, add in 1/3 cup cooking cream, 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, and ½ tsp salt. Mix well and cook for another 3 minutes, to let the flavours settle into the sauce. At this point, the sauce will have reduced down a little and it will have a bright green colour.
12. Finally, add in the cooked chicken and cooked spaghetti. Mix everything together for 3 minutes on low heat. Once done, the sauce will be creamy, and it will be mostly absorbed into the pasta.