by JollyFrogger Diva
I was scrolling through Facebook one day and noticed a friend of mine talking about this recipe for Trenette al Pesto from Pixar’s Luca that was recently posted to Pixar’s Instagram. It just so happens that I have a basil plant in my garden that is thriving and I am always on the lookout for unique recipes to keep that delicious basil from going to waste.
In addition to basil, you’ll need pasta, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, pine nuts, salt, potatoes, and green beans. I had never had potatoes and green beans in pasta before, but since the recipe called for them, I just went with it. In the end, it ended up delicious!
The first step is going to be making your pesto sauce. Add basil, garlic, and a 1/4 tsp of salt together in a food processor or blender. If you want it to be really authentic, you can also use a mortar and pestle, but I just went with a blender. You will slowly add the oil as the basil is ground up to keep the mixture wet enough to continue working around the blades. Next add the pine nuts and grated parmesan cheese. I pulsed a couple of times after adding the pine nuts and cheese just to make sure it was all incorporated into the sauce. Then put your sauce in the bottom of a bowl large enough to be able to toss your pasta in the pesto at the end.
Next it’s time to make the pasta. My local grocery store didn’t have trenette pasta so I used regular spaghetti noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil and be sure to salt your water! Then add the potatoes, green beans, and pasta. I used our usual pasta pot which ended up being too small for a whole box of noodles plus the green beans and potatoes, so consider using a bigger pot than you usually do when making pasta by itself. My potatoes were a little undercooked and I think it was because they were so crowded in the pot.
Once your pasta is ready, add a couple ladles of the pasta water to the bowl of pesto sauce before you drain your noodles. Toss everything around to cover it in sauce, then garnish with additional grated parmesan and a basil leaf or two.
I must say, this recipe was absolutely delicious! I have always enjoyed pesto, but even my kids were fans of this dish. After a taste of the pesto sauce by itself, my oldest didn’t think she’d like it and asked for plain pasta instead. She ended up regretting that decision when she tasted a few noodles off my plate once everything was mixed together. My youngest, who can be the world’s slowest eater, gobbled up an entire plate in near record speed. I feel like the recipe was fairly easy to make and came together pretty quickly, so chefs of almost any level can duplicate this dish.
After a tasty dinner, we ended up having a family movie night to watch Luca, which my kids had seen before but my husband and I had not. It was a cute movie and it was fun to see our dinner on screen. We will definitely be making trenette al pesto often this summer, because it’s both a crowd pleaser and a fun way to use the basil we’re growing in our garden.
Do you enjoy making Disney parks and movie inspired dishes? If you want more great recipes to try at home, check out Tinker Belle’s experience making Walt’s Chili and Beans and the delicious looking Disneyland’s Churro Toffee. I also shared my experience making Ronto Wraps from Disney’s Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook and Disney Magic Diva shares her review of Oga’s Cantina’s Cliffords Dwellers.
