Pesto Pappardelle Pasta with Zucchini Ribbons

I love this time of year when I can walk outside into my back yard and pick enough fresh basil to make a batch of pesto. Usually the first time that I make pesto I immediately have to cook up some sort of pasta with it, there’s nothing like freshly made basil pesto swirled into warm pasta, perfection at it’s best!

I decided on making pappardelle pasta this time, pappardelle is a large, broad and flat noodle and it goes really well with the addition of some zucchini ribbons  tossed into the warm pasta at the end. The long, wide zucchini ribbons mimic the pappardelle and adds a nice touch to the freshly made pesto.

A vegetable peeler is a great tool to use when making zucchini ribbons and it’s easy to do, but just make sure you keep turning the zucchini when you reach the seeds like I did, shown in the above photo.

To make the basil pesto gather up the best leaves you can find, ones that are unblemished.

A tip I learned a long time ago was to blanch the basil in boiling water for just fifteen seconds then immediately plunge it into cold ice water to shock it and stop the cooking process. By doing this the pesto will stay a nice bright green color, it won’t oxidize and have that dark green color on top which is not so visually appealing.

After you scoop the leaves out of the water make sure you give them a really good squeeze, removing as much water as you can. Another tip I learned a while back was to use a potato ricer for squeezing out the water, it works wonders, the handle comes down and it easily pushes all the excess water through the holes beneath, but if you don’t have a ricer just wrap it up in a tea towel and twist it until it’s nice and dry.

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano is a must for a quality tasting pesto as well as a bit of garlic, good olive oil and lightly toasted walnuts. I stopped using pine nuts a while ago it’s hard to find descent ones and the price is outrageous, plus I have really come to love it with the toasted walnuts anyway.

I like using a food processor to make my pesto it’s quick and easy and then I store it in the fridge using glass jars, pesto also freezes really well.

No need to cook the zucchini ribbons at all you just toss them raw right into the warm, strained pasta that has been tossed with the fresh basil pesto.

This is such a fresh and vibrant tasting pasta dish to make when basil is in abundance this time of year, it’s even good cold as a salad with some grilled chicken or shrimp.

Don’t stop at only pasta though fresh pesto can be slathered on just about anything, use your imagination and get creative!

Follow Proud Italian Cook on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Pesto Pappardelle Pasta with Zucchini Ribbons

 

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Author: Marie

Ingredients

• BASIL PESTO
• 4 cups of solidly packed basil leaves, unblemished and washed
• 2 large garlic cloves
• ½ cup toasted walnuts
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• FOR THE PASTA
• ½ lb. pappardelle pasta
• 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash or 3 zucchini, medium sized made into ribbons with a veggie peeler
• basil pesto, no measurement just enough to coat the warm pasta to your liking
• a few basil leaves, toasted walnuts and grated cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. TO MAKE THE PESTO
2. Blanch the basil in boiling water for just 15 seconds.
3. Immediately remove, scoop out with a spider and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
4. Squeeze out all the water from the blanched basil.
5. In a food processor add the nuts, then garlic and basil and grated cheese, combine.
6. Now while the processor is running stream enough olive oil down the shoot until you get a nice loose consistency.
7. Place into a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to use, I got a little over 2 pints.
8. Pesto stays well in the fridge for at least 3 weeks or in the freezer for over a month.
9. TO MAKE THE PESTO PAPPARDELLE PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI RIBBONS
10. Cook pasta according to directions al'dente, reserve a little pasta water if need be for incorporating.
11. Scoop out and place into a large bowl.
12. Add in enough pesto to your taste and liking, if it seems to thick loosen it up with some of the warm pasta water you reserved.
13. Toss in the raw zucchini ribbons while the pasta is still hot, tossing and coating with the pasta and pesto.
14. Arrange everything onto a nice platter.
15. Add some small basil leaves, some toasted walnuts, extra grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil all over for garnish.
16. Enjoy!

3.4.3177