Pesto Pasta Salad

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This pesto pasta salad starts with homemade basil pesto made in a food processor in about 15 minutes. Fusilli pasta, fresh mozzarella pearls, grape tomatoes, and baby spinach round out the bowl. Best served right after assembling.

Prep Time15

Cook Time9

Total Time24

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: (approximately 1 cup) servings

Calories: 723kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves packed (I used a 4-ounce container-stems removed)
¼ cup pine nuts
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt (plus additional for boiling the pasta)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Pasta Salad

½ pound Fusilli Bucati Pasta (half a 16-ounce box)
¾ cup grape tomatoes halve
½ cup fresh mozzarella pearls (patted dry)
½ cup baby spinach packed
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

To the bowl of a food processor add the fresh basil, pine nuts, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Pulse for 20-30 seconds or until well combined. You still want a little texture to the chopped basil and pine nuts.
2 cups fresh basil leaves, ¼ cup pine nuts, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic , 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt , ¼ teaspoon black pepper
With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil just until fully incorporated. Remove the lid and blade, then scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are fully combined. Transfer to a lidded container and set aside. This will yield approximately 1 cup of pesto. Measure out ¾ cup for the pasta salad and reserve the remaining ¼ cup for optional use.
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes or just until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking.
½ pound Fusilli Bucati Pasta
To a large bowl add the pasta and ¾ cup of the reserved pesto. Stir to evenly coat all the pasta with the pesto.
Add the grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella pearls, baby spinach and ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese. Stir to combine all the ingredients. You can stir in the additional ¼ cup reserved pesto if desired at this time or save it for another use.
¾ cup grape tomatoes, ½ cup fresh mozzarella pearls, ½ cup baby spinach, ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil leaves if desired before serving.

Notes

Storage:

This salad is at its best when it goes straight from the bowl to the table. Once the spinach meets the dressing it starts to wilt, and the pesto loses that bright green color the longer it sits — so assemble it right before you're ready to serve.
If you end up with leftovers, cover them and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Want to get ahead of things? The pesto can be made up to a week in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge. With that done, the only work left on serving day is boiling the pasta and tossing everything together.

Tips:

Pack the basil tightly and pull every stem. It sounds fussy, but it matters. Loosely packed basil leaves you short on both flavor and volume, and stems make the pesto look muddy and taste slightly bitter. Strip the stems before you measure, then really pack that cup.
Grate the parmesan by hand. Pre-grated cheese contains anti-caking additives that dull both the flavor and the color of the finished pesto. Two minutes of grating at the box grater makes a difference you can actually see and taste.
Use fresh garlic cloves. Jarred, pre-minced garlic works fine in plenty of recipes, but in a sauce where garlic is one of the main characters, fresh cloves give you a noticeably brighter, cleaner flavor. It's worth the extra minute.
Dry the mozzarella pearls thoroughly. Any moisture left on the pearls will dilute the pesto and water the whole salad down. Press them between a few layers of paper towels before they go into the bowl.
Make the pesto ahead, assemble right before serving. The pesto keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, so you can knock that out early. When the day arrives, all that's left is boiling the pasta and tossing everything together fresh.

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