Parsley Pesto Pasta
Today’s recipe, Parsley Pesto Pasta, uses fresh parsley as the main ingredient. To make this delectable delight, I first made a delicious pesto by combining this flavourful herb with pumpkin seeds, garlic, parmesan, lemon (zest and juice), and olive oil. It tasted amazing.
While I had a few bites of toast with this pesto, I quickly boiled some pasta, fried some veggies and bacon, and combined everything. The resulting dish, Parsley Pesto Pasta, tasted refreshing and, of course, delicious.
This recipe is easy to follow and takes little time to prepare. I added bacon to my pasta, but you can add any meat or veggie you prefer.
Pasta is one of the most loved foods in my home. It is easy to make, and you can experiment with various sauces, each giving pasta its unique taste and flavour.
I have already shared many pasta recipes such as Prawn and Dill Pesto Pasta, Mushroom Pasta with Pesto Rosso, Pasta Carbonara, Veg Pasta in creamy white Sauce and Salmon and Arugula Pasta. You can check them out.
I love trying various Italian dishes in my kitchen. If you would like to try some of them out too, check out my recipes for Minestrone Soup with Garlic Bread, Chicken and Cheese Sandwich with Italian spices and Eggplant Parmigiana. All of them are must-try recipes.
Now, let’s start with the easy-peasy recipe for Parsley Pesto Pasta:
Equipment Needed:
- Mixer/Food Processor
- Knives and Cutting Board
- Lemon Squeezer
- Grater
Ingredients for Parsley Pesto Pasta:
Ingredients for Parsley Pesto
- 4-5 Handfuls Fresh Parsley Leaves
- ⅓ Cup Pumpkin Seeds
- ⅓ Cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Pinches Lemon Zest
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 7-8 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves
Other Ingredients
- 500 gm Dry Pasta
- 2 Capsicums; washed and sliced
- 50 gm Low Fat Bacon
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Pinch Lemon Zest
- 1 Cup Pasta Water (water in which pasta is cooked)
- Salt; to taste
Method to make Parsley Pesto Pasta:
Method to make Parsley Pesto
Grind garlic and pumpkin seeds in a mixer.
Add chopped parsley leaves and pulse them. You can also do this with a food processor.
Add salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan cheese and olive oil and blend them in.
Parsley Pesto is ready.
Method to make Pasta
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Once done, reserve 1 cup of pasta water and strain the pasta. Keep it aside.
Heat oil. Add bacon and fry it.
Add sliced capsicums. Once it is cooked, turn off the heat.
In a big mixing bowl, combine cooked bacon and capsicum with the cooked pasta.
Add salt and lemon zest. Add parsley pesto, a little at a time, along with portions of pasta water, and mix. Taste and check.
As per your taste, add more pesto. Adding hot pasta water, a little at a time, helps mix everything well. Parsley Pesto Pasta is ready. Top it with some more olive oil/parmesan cheese while serving.
By the way, I recently shared the recipe for Parsley Pesto, which I made with sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds. It tasted delicious. You can check out its recipe here.
Some Notes about Ingredient Sourcing in Germany:
Ingredients for Parsley Pesto
- Fresh parsley leaves, called Petersilie in German, are available in supermarket vegetable sections and commonly found in Turkish shops.
- Pumpkin Seeds, called Kurbiskerne in German, are available in supermarkets.
- Parmesan Cheese, called Parmesankäse in German, is available in the refrigerator section of supermarkets.
- Lemons, called Zitronen, are available in supermarket vegetable sections. You can squeeze out their juice with a lemon squeezer and grate their skin to get zest.
- Salt, called Salz in German, is available in supermarkets. Read my article about Salt to learn more.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, called natives Olivenöl extra, is available in supermarkets, and good-quality ones are available in Italian shops. Read my article about oil varieties in supermarkets.
- Garlic, called Knoblauch is available in the vegetable section of supermarkets.
- Dry Pasta, called Nudeln, is available in supermarkets.
- Capsicums, called Paprika, is available in the vegetable section of supermarkets.
- Bacon, called Bacon-Würfel, is available in supermarkets. Regular and low-fat versions are available. You can choose based on your preference.
Parsley Pesto Pasta
Equipment
- Mixer/Food Processor
- Knives and Cutting Board
- Lemon Squeezer
- Grater
Ingredients
Ingredients for Parsley Pesto
- 4-5 Handfuls Fresh Parsley Leaves
- ⅓ Cup Pumpkin Seeds
- ⅓ Cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Pinches Lemon Zest
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 7-8 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves
Other Ingredients
- 500 gm Dry Pasta
- 2 Capsicums; washed and sliced
- 50 gm Low Fat Bacon
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Pinch Lemon Zest
- 1 Cup Pasta Water (water in which pasta is cooked)
- Salt; to taste
Instructions
Method to make Parsley Pesto
- Grind garlic and pumpkin seeds in a mixer.
- Add chopped parsley leaves and pulse it. You can also do this with a food processor.
- Add salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan cheese and olive oil and blend them in.
- Parsley Pesto is ready.
Method to make Pasta
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Once done, reserve 1 cup of pasta water and strain the pasta. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil. Add bacon and fry it.
- Add sliced capsicums. Once it is cooked, turn off the heat.
- In a big mixing bowl, combine cooked bacon and capsicum with the cooked pasta.
- Add salt and lemon zest. Also, add parsley pesto, a little at a time, along with portions of pasta water and mix. Taste and check.
- As per your taste, add more pesto. Adding hot pasta water, a little at a time, helps in mixing everything well.
- Parsley Pesto Pasta is ready.
- Top it with some more olive oil/parmesan cheese while serving.
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