Quick Pasta Recipe for Baby:
Pesto with Almond

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When looking to prepare a quick pasta meal midweek, pesto, which originates from Genoa, Italy, and combines the simplest of ingredients into a flavour-packed sauce, is essential to have on hand.

Quick Pasta Recipe for Baby: Pesto with Almond

I love the smell of fresh basil, which instantly transports me to hot and sunny Mediterranean climates. Combine the basil with some nuts, a hard cheese like Parmesan and some good quality olive oil, and you will have a sauce that your little ones will love it, too.

Interestingly, the word 'pesto' is derived from the Italian word pestare, which means 'to pound' or 'to crush'. Traditional methods of preparation used a mortar and pestle to grind and blend the ingredients. Thankfully, modern technology allows us to grind and blend electrically, thereby enabling us to turn this into a quick pasta recipe!

Traditional pesto sauce uses toasted pine nuts, which have a dense a creamy texture that is also very rich. This recipe uses almonds, which are a slightly drier nut and therefore yields a lighter flavoured pesto. The bits of ground almond skin also add a lovely touch of colour to the pesto, complementing the deep green of the basil.

I have used Parmesan in this recipe, but you can use another hard cheese of your choice, for example, Grana Padano. I also recommend using the highest quality olive oil that you can and preferably extra virgin. So much of the flavour of the pesto comes from the oil, which helps draw out the flavours of the basil, nuts and cheese.

Note

I used a hand blender when making the recipe below, as I was only doing a small batch for my babies. ☺️ Take a look at my recipe for making a large batch of almond pesto using a food processor!

Here's what you'll need to make this quick pasta recipe with almond pesto:
(Click here to jump straight to the recipe)

50g raw almonds
50g fresh basil, leaves only
1 small garlic clove, minced
35g finely grated Parmesan
100ml extra virgin olive oil
A squeeze for fresh lemon juice

And here's what you'll need to do:

Preheat oven to 170C / 150C Fan. Meanwhile, rinse and thoroughly drain your basil leaves.
Spread the almonds in a small oven-proof tray, and bake for 5-10 minutes (or longer for a nuttier flavour), until lightly toasted. When toasted, remove the almonds from the oven, and set aside to cool.

I first ground my nuts using an electric spice grinder.

I then poured the nuts into a tall and narrow container, added the garlic, a few basil leaves and some grated Parmesan, and blitzed together using a handheld stick blender.

Next I added a bit of the olive oil to make the blending easier and continue alternating adding basil and Parmesan with adding olive oil, blending between each addition, until all the ingredients have been used.
Blend all ingredients together well to ensure a uniform mixture, which should resemble a thick puree.

Pour the pesto into a bowl, add the lemon juice, and mix well.
The pesto will keep in an airtight container, in the fridge, for a few days, or freeze in small batches for later use.

Better yet, serve it immediately with your baby's favourite pasta shape. There is no beating this quick pasta recipe.