Pasta with mortadella and pistachios – Pasta con mortadella e pistacchi
This pasta is simply amazing and easy to make, yet unique enough to be prepared for a special dinner. I used trofie, but any other type of pasta would work with this incredibly creamy and tasty sauce! Mortadella and pistachios are the perfect match 🙂
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
$7-9 total*
2 people
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Ingredients
- 180 g trofie (or any other type of pasta)
- 120 g (4.2 oz, about 1 cup) mortadella, 1/2 cup finely chopped and 1/2 cup cubed
- 40 g (1/4 cup) white onion
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the pistachio pesto:
- 100 g (1 cup) pistachios + some to garnish
- 60 g (1 cup) freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 4 basil leaves
- 1/2 lemon zest
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce with the pistachio pesto.
Cut half of the mortadella into cubes and finely chop the other half. Wash, peel and finely dice the onion.
Peel the pistachios, keep a few aside for decoration. Wash, peel and cut in half the garlic, removing its stem.
Put the pistachios, garlic, parmesan, oil, basil leaves, lemon zest and salt in a blender and pulse to obtain a pesto. Adjust the salt.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet and brown the cubed mortadella at medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove mortadella from skillet and set aside.
In the same skillet brown the diced onion in 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 minute at low heat. Add the finely chopped mortadella and cook stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes. Add the pistachio pesto, mix well and turn off the heat.
Add salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta. Drain 2 minutes before the time indicated on the package.
Before draining the pasta, save 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.
Put the drained pasta into the skillet with the mortadella and the pistachio pesto, and add the cooking water. Mix well and cook stirring continuously until the sauce thickens (about 1-2 minutes).
Serve immediately garnishing with the cubed mortadella, some roughly chopped pistachios, and lemon zest.
Tips & notes
- Make sure to use unsalted pistachios.
- Use any type of pasta with this sauce!
* Price range estimated from local markets and supermarkets (it can change according to season, location and product quality)
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