Pasta Portofino Recipe from Liguria.

5 from 21 votes

Pasta Portofino Recipe from Liguria.

If you like basil pesto, you’ll love this pasta Portofino (or alla Portofino) recipe which pairs pesto with tomatoes. A simple easy-to-make vegetarian recipe full of Italian summer flavours.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian, Liguria, Mediterranean, Northern Italy

Keyword: authentic Italian pasta recipe, basil pesto, pasta Portofino, tagliolini

Servings:

Calories: 645kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

400 g tagliolini pasta (14oz) or other pasta of your choice

For homemade pesto

4 handfuls fresh basil leaves 60-70 g preferably young leaves
30 g pine nuts (1oz)
60 g Parmigiano Reggiano (2oz) grated or vegetarian parmesan.
60 g Pecorino sardo (2oz) grated (double parmigiano (4oz) if not available or use pecorino romano)
2-3 pinches coarse sea salt
1-2 garlic cloves peeled
extra virgin olive oil. as required

For tomato sauce

400 g cherry tomatoes (14oz) washed and halved
1 cup tomato passata or chopped tomatoes
1-2 garlic cloves peeled
2-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
salt for pasta and to taste
freshly ground black pepper. to taste

Instructions

Make basil pesto

If it’s possible, choose medium sized young basil leaves (brighter green). Rinse the leaves under water and dry them with paper towels.
Basil pesto the traditional way. Peel the garlic cloves and put them into a mortar with pine nuts. Grind until you have a paste Then add some basil leaves, and a little coarse sea salt, and 3 tablespoon of olive oil. Keep working with the pestle, while continuing to add more basil leaves and olive oil until the pesto is smooth. Finally, transfer to a bowl, add the cheeses and stir well.
Using a blender/food processor. Put all the ingredients in the blender and pulse a few seconds at a time until you have the right consistency. Add olive oil as required. Don’t keep pulsing for too long at once as the blender will heat up and this can spoil the basil.

Make the tomato sauce.

Sauté peeled garlic cloves in olive oil. Remove the garlic (if you wish) add cherry tomato halves and cook until they are well softened. Add passata, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 10-15 minutes. When the tomato sauce is ready, add 3-4 tablespoons of pesto, mix together and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Finish and serve.

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta, add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. My fresh tagliolini only took 2 minutes!
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Mix well and serve immediately with some fresh basil leaves and extra cheese if required.

Notes

You can use many types of pasta for this recipe. Long pasta like spaghetti or linguine, short pasta like penne, fusilli, trofie or rigatoni and even gnocchi.

When made with short pasta, this recipe makes a delicious side dish for seafood!

To make this recipe vegetarian, you’ll need to use a vegetarian cheese. As many strict vegetarians will know, Italian Parmigiano and Pecorino are made with animal rennet and therefore, not vegetarian.

Nutrition