Thai Basil Pesto
Thai basil pesto is a vibrant and aromatic pasta sauce that is extra easy to make. This pasta dish combines the comfort of pasta with the bold flavors of thai basil leaves in a rich peanut pesto sauce with a touch of lime, and a hint of sugar and spice.
What we love about this thai basil pesto pasta
- This dish is loaded with all sorts of flavor elements. We love the combination of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors. This dish blends them all perfectly.
- This sauce goes great with more than just pasta. You can use it as a dipping sauce or a marinade. Try it with some grilled steak or chicken kabobs this summer.
- You can serve this pesto pasta as a side dish, or as a main course. You can even try adding some veggies. Tossin some broccoli florets with the pasta during the last 2 minutes of cooking, drain together and coat with sauce for a more well rounded meal.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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- Thai basil leaves – This aromatic herb has a slightly spicy, peppery taste with a hints of anise.
- Minced ginger – We used pre-minced ginger, but you can absolutely grate your own fresh ginger root.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make thai basil pesto sauce
Cook the pasta. In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta to al denté according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients. Add thai basil leaves, peanuts, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, cooking oil, crushed red pepper flakes and salt to a food processor or a blender. Blend until almost smooth, pesto should be a coarse consistency.
Serve pasta with sauce. Return the pasta to the pot and add prepared pesto sauce. Stir to coat pasta in sauce, adding pasta water if needed. Garnish with chopped peanuts and serve.
More pesto pasta recipes you will love
- Pesto gnocchi
- Genovese pesto
- Red pesto pasta
- Pesto rosso (Sun dried tomato pesto)
Other fusion style recipes you should try
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Thai Basil Pesto
Thai basil pesto is a vibrant and aromatic pasta sauce that is extra easy to make. This pasta dish combines the comfort of pasta with the bold flavors of thai basil leaves in a rich peanut pesto sauce with a touch of lime, and a hint of sugar and spice.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blending
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pasta
- 1 cup thai basil leaves, packed
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup peanuts
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions to al denté. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
- In a food processor or blender, combine Thai basil leaves, peanuts, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, cooking oils, crushed red pepper flakes and salt.
- Process ingredients until well blended, scraping down the sides if needed.
- Combine pasta and pesto, stirring until pasta is well coated. Add reserved pasta water if needed.
- Garnish with peanuts and serve immediately.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 306
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 204.1 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.3 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 8.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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