Pasta al pistacchio – Creamy pistachio pasta
A rich, creamy pistachio pasta with Parmesan and mascarpone.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 400 g pasta
- 250 g mascarpone
- 80 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 80 g unsalted pistachios shelled
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
- 1 handful basil leaves
- 100-200 ml pasta cooking water
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Optional: pistachios and Parmesan for the top
Instructions
- Toast the pistachios in a dry frying pan until they just start to smell fragrant. Tip them into a blender.
- Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente, following the packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, heat a splash of oil in a frying pan – fry the onion and garlic over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add them to the pistachios in the blender.
- Add the basil and 100 ml of the pasta cooking water – and blend until you have a creamy, slightly coarse paste.*It doesn't matter that the pasta isn't fully cooked yet; the water has plenty of starch in it after about 5 minutes.
- Pour the pistachio cream back into the frying pan, add the mascarpone and warm it through while the pasta finishes cooking.
- Add the Parmesan and the al dente pasta – lift it straight out of the cooking water in the saucepan so a little of the water comes along with it.
- Toss everything together well in the frying pan, season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper – and loosen the sauce with a little more pasta water if needed.*If you'd like a touch of acidity, add a little lemon juice to the sauce – but that's down to personal taste.
- Serve the pasta straight away, topped with a little finely grated Parmesan and finely chopped pistachios if you like.