Recipe: Nut Free Pesto Pasta

This pesto recipe is my go to dish and the one everyone always requests that I make.  It is one of my favorite things to eat and is definitely comfort food for me.  I have a pretty bad nut allergy and can basically never order pesto out at restaurants because of that, even though it is one of my favorite dishes.  That is what I love about this recipe though - it does not contain any nuts, but certainly does not lack in flavor!  My favorite trick with this is to make a few batches of just the pesto (no pasta) at a time, put each batch in a small container, and freeze them, then whenever I want pesto I just defrost one of the containers, make the pasta, and have a super easy dinner!  This recipe is simple, healthy, delicious, and something that anyone (no matter the level of your cooking skills) can make.

Ingredients:

-1 large clove garlic

-1 cup basil, packed

-1/2 cup parsley, no stems

-1/2 cup parmesan cheese

-1/4 cup olive oil

-1 lb. penne pasta (can sub with gluten free pasta, my favorite is from Ronzoni)

Instructions:

-Rinse basil and parsley to clean, dry thoroughly.

-Put garlic in a food processor, pulse until finely chopped.

-Add basil, parsley, and parmesan to food processor, pulsing between each addition.

-Pulse the herb, garlic, and cheese mixture until ground.  Do not ground too much (see pictures below).

-Add olive oil and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of soft butter.

-Cook pasta to your liking, and drain.

-Pour pesto over pasta and mix well.

-Garnish with additional parmesan.

-Enjoy!

Have you ever made pesto before?

  

                

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