Chilli crisp pesto pasta
Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi · original post · full recipe on ottolenghi.co.uk
A classic basil pesto stacked with chilli crisp - crunchy fried garlic, shallots and chilli in oil - tossed through ridged trofie. The sauce is ready in the time it takes for the pasta to boil. Chilli crisp brands vary a lot, so taste yours first and scale up or down to suit.
Ingredients
- chilli crisp15 ml
- garlic clove1 ea
- roasted salted cashews20 g
- basil leaves — roughly torn40 g
- caster sugar3 g
- Parmesan — finely grated20 g
- olive oil15 ml
- lemon juice15 ml
- trofie pasta80 g
Method
- Add half the chilli crisp, the garlic, cashews, basil, sugar and 1 teaspoon of flaked sea salt to the small bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to form a coarse paste. Add the Parmesan, olive oil and lemon juice and pulse again until you have a coarse pesto (you can also do this in a pestle and mortar).
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Drop in the pasta and cook for about 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, reserving 60 ml of the pasta water.
- Return the drained pasta to the pot and add the pesto and half of the reserved pasta water, then stir well until the pasta looks creamy and silky. Add the rest of the pasta water if the sauce needs loosening.
- Transfer to a bowl (or eat straight from the pan) and spoon over the remaining chilli crisp.
Cooking for a different diet?
Swaps that keep this dish what it is. The prices on this page are for the recipe as written.
Vegan
- 8 g Nutritional yeast instead of parmesan
Pulse the nutritional yeast into the pesto where the Parmesan goes, with an extra pinch of salt; nothing else changes.
Gluten-free
- 80 g Gluten-free pasta instead of trofie pasta
Cook the gluten-free pasta to its packet time and keep the pasta water to loosen the pesto as written.
Dairy-free
- 8 g Nutritional yeast instead of parmesan
Pulse the nutritional yeast into the pesto where the Parmesan goes, with an extra pinch of salt; nothing else changes.
Swaps are suggestions — check labels if you are cooking for an allergy.
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- chilli crisp · 15 ml
- garlic clove · 1 item
- roasted salted cashews · 20 g
- basil leaves · 40 g
- caster sugar · 3 g
- Parmesan · 20 g
- olive oil · 15 ml
- lemon juice · 15 ml
- trofie pasta · 80 g