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Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword pasta salad, pesto
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes

Ingredients

For the pasta

  • ¾ lb. fusilli pasta
  • ¾ lb. bow tie pasta
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ½ cups pesto, packaged or see recipe below
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 ¼ cups good mayonnaise
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1 ½ cups frozen peas, defrosted
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto

  • ¼ cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup pine nuts
  • 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
  • 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preparation

Pasta

  1. 1. Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

Pesto

  1. 2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignoli, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.