A byproduct of our experiments with Black Garlic, we loved creating this Black Garlic Pesto Pasta recipe. Check out the blog here to read about how we first discovered black garlic, find more recipes using black garlic, and where we were able to find it locally here in Greenville, SC.
Black Garlic Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 7 oz Pasta (I used spaghetti)
- 0.25 cup Spinach/arugula (or 2 oz)
Pesto Ingredients:
- 10 cloves of Black Garlic, peeled and quartered
- cup Basil leaves, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp Mint leaves, chopped finely
- 1 raw garlic clove, minced/grated
- 3 tbsp Pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan over low heat until golden brown (stir often)
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
- 1 tbsp VioLife Just Like Parmesan, or Asiago cheese (finely grated)
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
- 0.5 cup Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place finely chopped basil and mint in a food processor with salt, pepper, minced raw garlic, and lemon juice, and pulse until very finely chopped and the herbs are completely limp and covered in the juices.
- Lightly toast pine nuts for a few minutes in a dry pan over low heat, just until they start to turn golden brown. Stir often to make sure they don’t stick!
- Add pine nuts to the food processor as well, pulsing 2-7 times to combine and break them down, but not enough to turn them into a paste. Some chunky bits are great!
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in oil, cheese, and black garlic until just combined. If you are going to reserve the pesto for another time, store in an airtight container with olive oil covering the level of the pesto.
- Bring it out of the fridge a little early so it can come to room temperature before tossing with hot pasta.
- Follow the package instructions to make the pasta. When it's done (in about 7-10 minutes), drain and toss the pasta with the pesto and spinach or arugula. At this point, you could add sausage to this if you'd like (I did, but it’s absolutely delicious on its own!).
If adding sausage:
- Chop sausage into ½ inch to 1-inch rounds and cook in a medium saucepan over medium heat with olive oil, flipping after 3-5 minutes on each side.