Pesto pasta salad

This simple pesto pasta salad is dressed with fresh basil pesto. You will only need half of the pesto for this recipe: keep the rest for another meal – it’s delicious with Mediterranean vegetables, fish or chicken, or, of course, stirred through freshly cooked linguine.

Ingredients

For the pesto

• 50g/1¾oz fresh basil, plus extra to garnish
• 50g/1¾oz pine nuts, toasted
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 50g/1¾oz Parmesan (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated

For the pasta salad

• 175g/6oz fusilli or farfalle pasta
• 150g/5½oz fine green beans, cut into 2cm/¾in lengths on the diagonal
• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 8 sun-blush tomatoes in oil, drained and halved
• ¼ unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice
• 150g/5½oz (drained weight) mini buffalo mozzarella balls, cut or torn in half
• handful rocket leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method for Pesto pasta salad

1. To make the pesto, tip the basil into a food processor, add 40g/1½oz toasted pine nuts and the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and whizz until roughly chopped.

2. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and whizz again, occasionally scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula. Add a further 3 tablespoons of olive oil and whizz again until almost smooth. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and stir in the grated Parmesan. Add more salt and pepper to taste, cover and place in the fridge until needed.

3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Add the beans to the pan for the last minute of cooking time. Drain the pasta and beans in a colander and refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Leave to drain well.

4. Tip the drained pasta and beans into a large bowl. Add the cherry and sun-blush tomatoes, half of the pesto, the remaining olive oil, lemon zest and juice and mix well to coat the pasta in the pesto.

5. Add the mozzarella to the bowl with the rocket and stir gently to combine. Garnish with basil leaves and the remaining toasted pine nuts.

Pesto pasta salad