Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- ½ packet of spagettini or angel hair pasta or other pasta of choice
- Seafood of choice cleaned and cut
- 3 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the pesto
- 1 bag of fresh basil
- 5 heaped tablespoons of fresh, grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 4 heaped tablespoons of lightly toasted pine nuts
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Pick the leaves of the basil, discarding the stems. Clean the leaves and leave to dry. Using an electric blender, blend the basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and pine nuts until you get a fresh, fragrant green paste. Don’t make the mixture too smooth, as it’s nice to have a slightly coarse pesto with some bite. Add the lemon juice and Parmesan, and season to taste.
- Cook the pasta and toss with 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil to avoid the strands sticking together.
- Season the seafood with salt and pepper before pan frying it on a hot skillet or non-stick pan until it is nice and brown on the outside, but moist on the inside.
- Toss the pasta with the pesto and assemble the seafood artistically on the top. Have a block of Parmesan and a cheese grater ready on the table for anyone who wishes to top up.
Food Notes
- Use only fresh herbs for a pesto. You can substitute basil with your favourite herbs. Rocket and Thai Basil are common alternatives.
- If you want to add more bite to the dish, pan-fry some breadcrumbs with butter until crispy then sprinkle over each serving.
- Light, white seafood goes well with the delicate pasta and clean taste of the pesto. White fish such as cod, halibut or kurau paired with squid rings and prawns are ideal.