A dish such as spaghetti is a matter of special pride for Italians and the basis of national cuisine. Italian-made pasta is popular in Russia. In order to cook them, you do not have to be a chef with many years of experience.
Spaghetti with pesto sauce turns out to be a pleasant green color. Their taste is delicate and summer, and the aroma is fresh. This is a great second course for lunch or dinner. For cooking, you will need a package of spaghetti (300 grams), 2.5 liters of water, 1 tbsp. salt, 1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil.
If you salted the spaghetti, rinse it with running water after cooking. Or add another liter of boiling water while cooking.
On packages with Italian spaghetti, the cooking time is always indicated. For example, you can find the following inscription: Cottura 6 minuti. This means that the cooking time is 6 minutes from the moment the spaghetti is dipped in boiling water. Depending on the size, the spaghetti takes 3 to 12 minutes to cook.
So, for 300 grams of spaghetti, you need 2.5 liters of water. Pour water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. The water should be 1/2 or 2/3 full. Put salt in boiling water and pour in vegetable oil so that the spaghetti does not stick together. Now fan the spaghetti into the pot. After one minute, push them in until they are completely submerged.
If there is no information on the cooking time on the package, you will have to constantly try the spaghetti during the cooking process. During the first minute of cooking, be sure to stir the spaghetti so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan and do not stick together. When the dish is ready, drain the water. It is very convenient to use a colander for this. While the water is dripping off the spaghetti, place a piece of butter in a hot saucepan. Then pour the spaghetti into a saucepan with butter and stir well. Cover and let stand for a while. And then mix again.
It is very convenient to mix spaghetti like this: put a towel on the lid of the pan, grab the handles on both sides and shake well. You can rotate the pan slightly. Hold the cover with your thumbs to keep it from coming off.
There is an opinion that spaghetti should not be cooked a little. Due to their own temperature, they reach readiness themselves. There is a grain of reason in this, because spaghetti is very easy to digest.
If you want the flavor of the pine nuts in the pesto sauce, fry them in a skillet.
To make pesto sauce, you will need 125 grams of Parmesan cheese, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 tbsp. pine nuts, 2 bunches of fresh basil leaves, 1/2 tbsp. olive oil. Chop the basil coarsely with a knife, then place in the blender bowl. Chop the garlic and add to the basil along with the pine nuts. Grind the ingredients in a blender, gradually adding half of the olive oil. Add the Parmesan to the blender and continue grinding. Then add the remaining oil. The sauce is ready!
There is no salt in this recipe, as real Italian Parmesan cheese is quite salty. Instead of Parmesan, you can use another hard cheese. In this case, the sauce will need to be salted.
Please note that the sauce should not be uniform in consistency. You need to grind to such a consistency that you can distinguish between the ingredients. If you don't have a blender, you can grind the sauce ingredients with a pestle. If you want to change the flavor of the pesto sauce, instead of basil, use 2 parts cilantro and one part parsley, or 2 parts spinach and one part basil.
Pesto sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 days and in the freezer for a month. For storage, transfer the prepared sauce to a glass jar and cover with a lid.
Serve the spaghetti in a deep bowl, like a soup. Pour the sauce into the center of the dish, but do not stir. Spaghetti cools down very quickly. Therefore, it is advisable to preheat the plates on which you are going to lay out the finished dish. This can be done in the microwave.
