Pasta with Pesto Sauce and Sautéed Salami
Description
My father was born in Italy and he loved pesto sauce. From a very early age, I remember loving this very colorful, flavorful sauce on pasta. I have found so many other uses for this great sauce, including on top of fish (for our Salmon with Pesto recipe, please click here), on sandwiches, etc. This pasta recipe combines the wonderful flavor of pesto with a flavorful salami and garlic to create a great dish.
At a Glance
Equipment
No special equipment is needed for this terrific, main course pasta dish.
Ingredients
For the Pasta:
½ box (or about 8 ounces) of Pasta (Pasta shells were used in the preparation of this recipe because they hold the sauce nicely. You can use any pasta that you choose.)
1 cup of hard Italian Salami, chopped into small cubes about ⅛-¼ inch in size. We enjoy using a spicy salami, but you can use any hard, quality salami or even pepperoni.
1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Egg
⅓ -½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
⅓ cup of homemade Pesto Sauce, which is easy to make or you can buy it at your grocery store, if you don’t have time or the desire to make it from scratch. If you want to make homemade Pesto Sauce, you can access the recipe by clicking here.
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste
Directions
Heat the water in a large pot and add approximately a “handful” of salt to the water. While the water is heating, add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and minced garlic to a sauté pan, and heat them until the garlic is translucent. Add the salami to the sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the salami becomes slightly crispy. Then, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Once the salted water begins to boil, add the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the container; ultimately, the pasta should be cooked until it is “al dente”. While the pasta is cooking, crack the egg in a large serving bowl and add several tablespoons of the grated Parmesan on top of the egg. Whisk this together until the egg is well mixed with the cheese. Add half of the pesto sauce to the bowl and whisk that in until it is fully integrated. Once the pasta is done, strain it in a colander, but keep about a cup of the pasta water and set that aside. Add the pasta to the bowl that has the egg and pesto and mix quickly. The egg will cook from the heat of the pasta and will help the sauce stick to the pasta – a classic Italian tip. It also makes for a nice, creamy pasta. Add the rest of the pesto and the salami and continue to mix. Add the cheese and mix the pasta and then check the consistency of it. If the sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the pasta-cooking water that you set aside previously and mix it into the pasta. If the pasta is still too thick add more water, a few tablespoons at a time, until you get the consistency that you desire. Serve immediately and enjoy!!
Serving Suggestion:
We enjoy this Pasta with Pesto Sauce and Sautéed Salami with our wonderful Umami Salad Dressing and Salad, which you can access here. This salad has a great, pungent salad dressing that goes nicely and “stands up” against the pesto. (Link the umami salad and dressing here).
