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This lemon pesto pasta dish is fresh and light and so full of flavor! Made by tossing a simple lemon pesto with rigatoni and topping it with fresh mint and grated parmesan. This vegetarian recipe can be made for a carnivore by simply topping it with shredded rotisserie chicken or adding grilled shrimp! Best of all, it’s a one pot meal that can be made in less than 30 minutes! It is a perfect weeknight dinner, but special enough for a date night or dinner party!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Rigatoni- you can use any shape pasta you like, but pastas like rigatoni or penne do a good job of trapping the lemon pesto goodness.
- Butter
- 4 lemons
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Vegetable, Olive or Avocado Oil
- Almonds
- Sugar
- Fresh Mint
How to Clean Lemons for Zesting
Lemon zest is so fresh and aromatic. It adds so much to a dish and in this dish is such a lovely complement to the cheesy nuttiness of the pesto. But even if you buy organic, most lemons from the grocery store come with a food grade wax coating that helps to keep them fresh and shiny. We want to remove that coating so that we get only the zest.
There are lots of different vegetable cleaners that you can buy that claim to remove dirt and wax, and there are other techniques that require salt, or baking soda, or dish soap and scrubbing.
I went down the rabbit hole researching different techniques and theories about de-waxing or no, and the best way to remove all the things we don’t want to think about eating!
But I have found the easiest and most effective way to remove dirt, wax and any other nastiness that you don’t want to eat, is simply by blanching your lemons in boiling water for 15 seconds, and then quickly placing them in a bowl of ice water to cool. Easy!
Your lemons will be clean and ready to zest, plus blanching them will leave your kitchen smelling lemony fresh!
How to Zest Lemons
Zesting lemons really is so easy. The main objective it to separate the fragrant yellow outer coating from the white pit, can be very bitter. There are several tools that help to achieve this.
- Microplane– This is a classic tool that is fairly inexpensive and such a good one to have in your kitchen! Click HERE to see the one I use, on Amazon. It comes in all colors!
- Zester/Channel Knife– This tool works, but is more suitable for zesting citrus for cocktails. You could use this if you want to make a fancy garnish for a cocktail like a lemon drop with this Lavender Simple Syrup!
- Peeler- This Kuhn Rikon is the one I use and it is such a good peeler! Using a peeler to zest your citrus is definitely the, “advanced” way to do it. To do it successfully, use a very sharp peeler like this one, and a very light touch. Remember, you want only the yellow and none of the white parts!
How to make Lemon Pesto
Making pesto, whether a traditional basil pesto, or a lemon pesto like this one, is so easy! It is one of those things that may seem daunting until you do it once and the you will be looking for reasons to make more!
For this recipe, you will simply toss all the ingredients except for the oil, into your food processor and let it process for about a minute.
Then, slowly drizzle the oil in while the food processor is running, and that is all there is to it!
Taste and season with a little bit more salt if you’d like, and then set it aside until you are ready to use it!
It will stay fresh in a snap lock container in the fridge for a couple of days, so it is a great little step to complete ahead of time to make life just a little bit easier!!
How to make Lemon Pesto Pasta
Now that you have made the super easy lemon pesto, the rest is a snap!
Boil your pasta according to the directions on the package. The boiling time will vary, especially if you decide to use a different shape of pasta, such as penne, and that won’t hurt my feelings, I promise! 🙂
If you are really in the mood to make everything completely from scratch, then check out my Simple Fresh Pasta Dough recipe. This is SO easy and so, so good!
So, boil your pasta, and when that is done, drain it but save about 1 cup of pasta water.
Place your pot back on the burner and turn the heat to medium. Add the butter and lemon pesto and let it melt together. Add your hot pasta and about 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water back into the pot.
Gently stir it all together so that all of the pasta is coated with butter, lemony deliciousness.
When you are ready to serve, garnish it with some freshly shaved parmesan, fresh mint leaves and a little sea salt and pepper. Enjoy!!
What to do with Leftovers
Well, if, (and that is a big if!) you have leftovers, you can store the in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
When you are ready to finish them off, you can serve it as a Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad (maybe add 1/2 cup of frozen peas, as my friend Kathie suggested!), and a few fresh, chopped mint leaves!), or you can reheat it and enjoy it as you did on the first go ’round!
Sides and Sweet Treats
Need some ideas for side dishes, apps, or sweet treats to go with this? Check out these recipes!
- Ladybug Caprese– This tasty and cute little appetizer would be a perfect, fresh way to start!
- Lavender Simple Syrup– Add this sweet and floral syrup to your favorite cocktail or sparkling water for a delicious and unique change up!
- Sugared Lemon Cookies– A fresh and lemony sweet treat to finish!
I hope you love this Lemon Pesto Pasta! I would love to hear from you in the comments at the very bottom. Thank you and thank you for visiting Mollie in Montana~*!
Lemon Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Penne Pasta
- 4 whole lemons, zested
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ fine sea salt salt
- ¼ cup Fresh Grated Parmesan plus more for garnishing
- ¼ cup Almonds (if you use salted almonds, reduce the amount of salt to ⅛ tsp)
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup Starchy Pasta Water
- 10 fresh mint leaves, rolled and sliced into thin slices
Instructions
Lemon Pesto
- Star by blanching your lemons for 15 seconds in boiling water. This will remove any wax, dirt, or pesticides on the lemons. After 15 seconds remove the lemons from the boiling water and place them in an ice water bath to cool.
- Zest your lemons.
- Add lemon zest, almonds, grated parmesan, salt, and sugar to a food processor and process for 1 minute until it forms a grainy paste.
- With food processor running, drizzle olive oil into lemon mixture.
- Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Pasta
- Bring large pot of water to a boil.
- Add pasta and boil for length of time according to instructions, then drain, but save 1/4 cup of pasta water.
- Return the pasta pan to the burner and heat on medium high heat.
- Add Butter to pan.
- Once it has melted, add pasta and lemon pesto and toss it all together.
- Add a little bit of starchy pasta water, 1 Tbsp at a time until you like the consistency.
- Continue to toss everything together for 2 minutes, until everything is hot and well combined.
- Garnish with mint and parmesan and serve.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Notes:
- To make this meal a little more substantial, add shredded rotisserie chicken, or toss some cooked (grilled? sauteed?) shrimp on top!
- Leftovers make a delicious pasta salad! Simply add a little more mint on top, and maybe some frozen peas and serve!
- The zested lemons will last in your fridge for a week or so, but if you would like to use them up, check out my other lemon recipes such as Sugared Lemon Cookies, or Strawberry Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing.
- Feel free to use Avocado or Canola oil in place of the olive oil if you need a substitute!
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