Pesto Pasta Salad

Here at Delish, our pasta salads are anything but boring (we're looking at you, lobster roll pasta salad). But, sometimes we're craving something classic, reliable, and absolutely refreshing. While we love the our classic pasta salad recipe, this pesto version is the epitome of a fresh summer side. Featuring a homemade basil-and-pine nut pesto, a generous amount of Parmesan, and juicy grape tomatoes, this will be the dish everyone will be reaching for at all your summer BBQs and picnics. Read on for how to make it the very best it can be:

Homemade pesto.
The star of this pasta salad is the fresh, homemade pesto. All you’ll need is pine nuts, garlic, basil, a good quality olive oil, a generous helping of Parmesan, and lemon juice. We recommend using your nicest olive oil recipe. The flavor will really shine through, so  it makes a difference to use the higher quality stuff in this recipe—trust us. 

Tip: Keep a close eye on your pine nuts when toasting! They’re easy to burn, so make sure to keep a watchful eye while they’re on the stove. 

The best pasta.
We went with fusilli here—we love how the pasta catches the delicious pesto in the spirals. But, you can really use whatever you’d like! Any short pasta will do as long as it has a good texture to snag the sauce; penne is a great choice, but we won’t judge you for going with retro bow-tie pasta. 

Storage and make-ahead.
If you have any leftovers, store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also make the pesto up to 3 days ahead to make throwing this recipe together a breeze. If you're doing this, you'll skip the step of adding the pasta water to the sauce—just wait to do that until you're assembling the salad. Transfer to an airtight container and top with a glug of olive oil, which will help the pesto maintain its pretty, nearly emerald green color. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below!