Rich and Creamy Pesto Fettuccine Recipe

Creamy Pesto Pasta - Fettuccine tossed in a creamy, cheesy Alfredo sauce with lots of homemade basil pesto mixed in! Perfect, easy dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes!

Tell me, what could be better than pasta tossed with the BEST Alfredo sauce with homemade basil pesto mixed in?! Let me give you a hint – nothing is better.

This dinner recipe is one of my favorites, for a few reasons –

1. It’s ready in 30 minutes. Now that I’m working full time, it’s like a dream to have a great dinner on the table that doesn’t require a lot of time.

2. It involves my all-time favorite Alfredo sauce, which only has 3 ingredients, not including salt and pepper.

3. It tastes AWESOME – this is my absolute, number one priority. I don’t care if it’s easy to make and it only takes half an hour; if it doesn’t taste good, I’m not making it!

I think you’re going to love this recipe, and I encourage you to make the basil pesto yourself, even if you haven’t made it before! There’s just something about homemade pesto – it’s fresher, cheaper, tastes better, and YOU choose exactly what goes into it. That being said, I won’t judge you if you sub in some store-bought pesto to make this a 20 minute meal J

For the basil pesto –

1 cup fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons slivered almonds (or pine nuts)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta –

7-8 ounces dried fettuccine (depending on how creamy you want the pasta)

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Pinch of kosher salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup reserved basil pesto

Directions:

1. To make the basil pesto – place the basil, olive oil, garlic, and almonds in the base of a blender, and blend until smooth, 30-45 seconds. Add in the Parmesan, salt and pepper, and blend for 15-30 more seconds, until everything is completely incorporated.

2. Cook the fettuccine in salted boiling water until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce – melt the butter and cream together in a skillet over medium-low heat until the butter has totally melted into the cream.

3. Add in the Parmesan cheese, kosher salt, and black pepper. Whisk the Parmesan into the sauce until incorporated into the sauce. Mix in the basil pesto, and simmer for a few minutes while the pasta cooks.

4. Add the sauce into the fettuccine, and mix together. Plate into large bowls, and top with extra Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Notes –

1. You can sub in pine nuts for the almonds – I just use almonds because they’re a bit cheaper than pine nuts and I don’t really taste a flavor difference.

2. If you want to amp up the flavor of the pesto, you can toast the almonds (or pine nuts) in a skillet over medium heat until lightly golden brown, 3-4 minutes, before adding them to the blender of food processor.

3. You can use any type of pasta you want - sometimes I use rigatoni or penne to allow the noodles to catch all the sauce! See the full how-to video here: