Okay, this one is a bit of a splurge, especially considering my tight September Challenge budget, but after last week’s meat-heavy menu I was craving bright fresh flavors. This Parsley Pesto Pasta is about as vibrant as it gets and the blistered cherry tomatoes on top give the dish a pop of color and a sweet finish to compliment the earthy garlic and Parmesan. It’s a little pricey, but I made it work.
What’s in Parsley Pesto?
Fresh pesto is usually a pretty pricey endeavor, thanks to the fresh basil, Parmesan, olive oil, and pine nuts. So to make my own budget pesto, I make a few substitutions. First, I use inexpensive parsley instead of basil. Second, I skip the pine nuts all together. I find that Parmesan has enough nuttiness to give me the flavor I need. But if you happen to have walnuts on hand, you can add a handful to the pesto for even more rich, nutty flavor. Fresh lemon zest also gives this parsley pesto quite a flavor boost, but if you don’t have room in your budget for that, you can use bottled juice and just forget the zest (I’ve done it in the past and it still gets a passing grade).
Put an Egg On It
“Put an egg on it” is my unofficial slogan because I add an egg to just about everything I eat. They’re fast, easy, inexpensive proteins and they are exactly what this parsley pesto pasta needed to round it out and make it a full meal. That silky yolk mixes in with the pesto fo an unbelievable flavor and texture combination.
Of course, if you’re not that into fried eggs you can add your egg in just about any form. Soft boiled eggs would be great, or if you’re not into the runny yolk thing you could just do a simple scrambled egg.
Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes
Servings 5Ingredients
Parsley Pesto
- 1 bunch fresh parsley ($0.77)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan ($0.69)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.79)
- 6 Tbsp olive oil ($0.96)
Blistered Tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 pints grape tomatoes ($4.00)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
Bowls
- 1 lb. pasta (any shape) ($1.00)
- 5 fried eggs (optional) ($1.60)
Instructions
- Rinse the parsley and drain well. Pull the leaves from the stems and place them in a food processor with the Parmesan, garlic, salt, zest and juice from half the lemon (about 2 Tbsp juice). Pulse the ingredients until they are finely chopped. Slowly add the olive oil through the spout while the processor is running until a smooth paste forms. Set the pesto aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium flame. Add one tablespoon olive oil, then tilt the skillet to coat the surface. Add the tomatoes and cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Avoid stirring the tomatoes too often to allow them time to blister on the hot skillet. As they cook the skins will burst and the tomatoes will release juice, which will thicken into a semi-sweet glaze. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package directions, or until al dente. Reserve a small amount of the starchy cooking water, then drain the pasta in a colander. Allow the pasta to cool slightly, then return it to the pot (with the heat turned off). Add the pesto, then toss to coat. If the pasta is too dry or clumps, sprinkle a little of the reserved cooking water on top to loosen.
- Divide the pasta among five bowls, top with a scoop of the blistered cherry tomatoes, scraping up some of the sweet glaze from the skillet as well. Top each bowl with a fried egg, if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes – Step by Step Photos
Begin with the pesto so that it’s ready to go when the pasta is finished cooking. Rinse 1 bunch of parsley and let it drain well. Pull the leaves from the stems and place them in a food processor with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, and the zest and juice from 1/2 of a lemon (about 2 Tbsp juice).
Pulse the ingredients until they’re finely chopped and granular. This mix is actually a “gremolata” at this point, which is also very good with pasta and meat, but we’re going to add some olive oil to make it more smooth and help it coat the pasta.
While the food processor is on, slowly pour olive oil in through the spout until it’s a smooth paste. The first time I made this pesto, I used 1/2 cup olive oil. Today I found that I was able to get away with only 6 Tbsp, which helped bring the cost down a little more. Set the pesto aside until you’re ready to use it.
Rinse two pints of cherry tomatoes.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Tilt the skillet to spread the oil over the surface, then add the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes in the hot skillet, only stirring occasionally, until they are soft and wrinkly. Avoid stirring too often to allow the skin to blister on the hot skillet. The skins will blister and crack, allowing some of the juices to escape. The juices will thicken as they cook into a sweet glaze. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Cook one pound of pasta according to the package directions (boil for 7-10 minutes), or until al dente. Reserve a little of the starchy pasta water, then drain it in a colander. Allow the pasta cool a little, then return it to the pot (with the heat off). Add the prepared pesto.
Toss the pasta in the pesto. Allowing the pasta to cool a little helps prevent the Parmesan from melting and sticking to the bottom of the pot. You want it on the pasta, not the pot. ;) Add a little of the reserved pasta water if the pasta is too dry and sticks in clumps.
To build the bowls, divide the pasta between five bowls, then top with a scoop of tomatoes, and a fried egg if desired. Because I’m going to be eating this throughout the week, I portioned out the pasta and tomatoes into individual containers, but will fry the egg fresh for each meal.
Expensive for the September Challenge, but still insanely cheap compared to your local deli.
I made a delicious variation on this tonight. I had a tub of homemade basil pesto in the freezer, so I subbed that for the parsley pesto. I also added a bit of balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes at the end of their cooking.
Love this recipe! Had never had blistered cherry tomatoes & am now it love with them – so much flavor. I used several different kinds from my garden – wow!
I was skeptical about this because I don’t like cherry tomatoes, but it’s a new favorite! I tried poaching eggs for the first time because I thought I’d like that better on top. It’s amazing and so easy.
I have never poached eggs! I’m terrified of it!
Don’t be!!! What’s the worst that could happen? The egg breaks and you have to toss it and try again? Use a little bit of vinegar, stir the water, drop the egg in the middle. Don’t let it boil. Yuuuuum.
I have found you can use pretty much any type of nut when making pesto. My favorites are peanuts or sunflower seeds, and both are way more affordable than pine nuts.
Told my children they were having alien noodles. All preferred it with egg, and an Asiago bread I bought (on clearance). Overall, adult win, children took prompting but 4/5 ate (and even decided in the end they liked it).
Hahaha love it! :D
Very refined. The kids even liked it.
Oh, that looks delicious!
I just rented a DVD set from Good Eats. One of the episodes, Alton Brown used roasted pistachios to make pesto instead of pine nuts since they’re cheaper.
I use sunflower seeds when I’m turning the basil from my garden into pesto, which ads the nutty flavour and texture at a very modest price. Between that and pre-grated Parmesan bought it bulk from Costco, it actually becomes a reasonably priced dish.
I also have some tiny tim tomatoes growing in the garden this year. This meal would be an excellent use of the garden’s produce. I could even do 50/50 basil and parsley in the pesto, since I have that growing too.
Great idea! I happen to have some sunflower seeds on hand, so I’ll have to give that a try.
Another non basil pesto option – not sure how this would come out price-wise in comparison, but it is nice and bright … to me: peas, lemon, sunflower seeds, garlic, olive oil, salt.
Although, not a traditional method (but neither is a food processor, since pesto means “pounded” :) ) – I don’t add the parmesan when I make the pesto and instead grate some on top, using less than adding it to the “sauce”. I also use less olive oil and thin it as needed with pasta water.
***I DO use a food processor unless I’ve had a difficult day and need to pound something!
I don’t have a food processor can I use a blender?
Yes, you can. I’ve used a blender to make pesto loads of times. You just need to watch what you are doing closely, otherwise the pesto will lose some of that great “chunky” texture–unless that’s what you want, of course.
Yes, but you’ll need to add some of the oil to begin with to help keep the mixture circulating. Blenders don’t do well with dry mixtures like food processors do.
I love the colors in this recipe! To reduce the cost, you could use plum tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes.
Mmmmmmmm!!! I LOVE blistered tomatoes!! Will definitely give this recipe a try!!!! :-)
Did you use the pre-grated Parmesan that comes in a jar? I guess the “real” Parmesan might be a bit too expensive and it may not actually make a difference in this case?
Yes, I used the stuff that comes pre-grated in a plastic container (the kind in a glass jar is a bit more expensive). I’m pretty sure that good Parmesan (bought whole then grated at home) would taste quite a bit better, but would also cost more. So, if you have the wiggle room in your budget, I’d go for it! :)
Beth, I’m willing ot adopt you if you cook every night. Well – you can have 2 nights off…
Egg prices are skyrocketing because of an illness wiping out a lot of the flocks of the big chicken farms. But I’ve noticed a lot of the cage free & organic brands haven’t had this problem. I eat a lot of eggs (more than a dozen a week), and I was going crazy with the prices going up so much. Recently those cage free eggs are a little cheaper than the big farm eggs.
Interesting! Yes, the “fancy” brand that I like to buy (Eggland’s Best) was barely more expensive than the generic store brand, so I didn’t even bother going generic to save money this time. :P