Description
Beef Pesto Pasta is a super quick recipe that will get dinner sorted in 20 minutes. Cheesy, creamy and beefy, this dish takes minimal effort.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup pistachio nuts
- 2–3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 500 grams beef, cut into stir fry long thin strips
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 500 grams penne pasta
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
- pecorino romano cheese for garnish
- basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Cook beef: add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large saute pan, turn heat to high, add beef strips, salt and pepper. Cook till the beef has browned on all sides, using a silicon turner to help move the meat around in the pan.
- Make pesto: add basil leaves, pistachio nuts, garlic, pecorino romano cheese to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to combine for about 15 seconds and scrap the insides of the bowl down with a spatula once done. Pour in the olive oil and then continue to blitz. Taste the pesto, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and add the 2nd tablespoon as needed. Blitz till consistently combined then transfer combined pesto to a small bowl.
- Cook pasta: read and follow the instructions on the packet to cook the pasta in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water. Moments before it is done, use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1 to 2 cups of the water. Then drain the pasta into the sink using a colander and discard the remaining pasta water.
- Combine: add the cooked drained pasta to a large saute pan, add in the cooked beef and dollop in the pesto. Pour in 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. Then use a wooden spoon to toss the pasta, pesto, pasta water and beef till it is consistently combined.
- Garnish: generously garnish the top of the combined steak and pesto pasta with grated pecorino romano, cracked black pepper and basil leaves.
Notes
Pecorino romano can be substituted with parmesan cheese. Lemon juice can be freshly squeezed or bottled. Reserved pasta water can be stored in the fridge to juice up leftovers.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sautéing
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 819 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 312 mg
- Fat: 34 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 26 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 104 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 13 mg
Keywords: beef pesto pasta, steak pesto pasta