Make Your Own Pesto Cavatappi (Noodles & Co. Copycat Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is the best pasta to use for pesto sauce? ›

Pesto Sauce

This fresh and fragrant pasta sauce is served uncooked, so choose a pasta shape that won't overwhelm it. Similar to oil-based sauces, pesto is served best with longer cuts of pasta, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.

Cavatappi is a spiral pasta with a hollow center and outer ridges. Made with just durum wheat semolina and water, this springy spiral pasta originated in Southern Italy.

For a protein-rich pasta topper, your best bet is to make a pesto (like this one) that's loaded with pine nuts and Parmesan—two solid protein sources. For a healthier pesto that still boasts an impressive amount of protein, try this superfood version made with sunflower and hemp seeds.

And it's those herbs—specifically basil—that makes pesto a bright mouthful of summer. Recipes often vary, but basic preparations always center on the previously mentioned basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil, with Italian cheeses like parmigiano reggiano and pecorino romano.

Properly made pesto tastes fresh and zingy and balanced, not muddy. Each flavor component is identifiable—the fragrant basil, the pungent garlic, the buttery olive oil and sweet pine nuts, the tangy cheeses—and yet none dominates. Basil is the star, for sure, but its perfume works in balance with the other ingredients.

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Cavatappi are short, ridged corkscrew-shaped pasta. If you can't find them, substitute another short, sturdy pasta shape, such as rigatoni or even farfalle (bowties).

Cavatappi is macaroni formed in a helical tube shape. Cavatappi is the Italian word for corkscrew. Cavatelli resembles a tiny hot dog bun. Commonly known as "shells" or "seashells." These are usually sold in the plain durum wheat variety, and also in colored varieties.

The Best Substitutes for Cavatappi

That being said, macaroni makes a fine substitute for cavatappi in this dish. Other good options include penne, fusilli, or any tubular pasta. Bonus points if it has ridges, since they cling better to a creamy sauce.

You'll want to be mindful of the sodium content. Some jars have more than 500mg per serving and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend you eat no more than 2,300mg per day. It would be hard to stay within those guidelines if you get more than 20% of your sodium from pesto.

Why is pesto pasta so high in calories? ›

That's largely down to the fact that most pesto sauces contain generous amounts of oil, nuts, and cheese. All three of these are high in fat and calories, so eating too much pesto, too regularly, and not getting enough exercise can ultimately be fattening.

pesto and alfredo sauce are less nutrient dense than tomato sauce. however, it's your food, and it's just sauce, so I would do what you feel like and not worry too much about it. eating a balanced diet it general is more important than worrying about the “health" value of specific foods.

As a very rough guide, your pesto should weigh about 2/3 the weight of the dried pasta you are cooking. So, for a standard, single serving of 75g of dried pasta, we think that 50g of pesto is about right.

Because its ingredients include olive oil, nuts, and cheese, pesto can be high in calories and fat. However, the fat is primarily unsaturated and may have heart health benefits. Pesto is also full of antioxidants that can help protect your cells from damage.

FODMAPs are found in foods such as garlic, onions, and nuts, which are commonly used in pesto. Consuming large amounts of FODMAPs can lead to digestive symptoms, such as bloating, gas, and stomach pain. Lactose intolerance: Some types of pesto contain cheese, which is a common source of lactose.

Pesto, on the other hand, flourishes best when paired with thinner noodles, such as spaghetti and linguine, and with shapes that have plenty of twists, grooves, curls, and troughs. Fusilli is not only one of the most well-known pasta shapes; it's also the UK's most popular and our ultimate shape to use with pesto.

I assume you mean 'green' pesto, or pesto alla Genovese, since that's what English speakers usually mean by 'pesto'. And that being the case, in Liguria, which is the region of Italy it's from, they traditionally serve it with potatoes and green beans and a short spiral pasta called trofie.

No, you should never heat fresh pesto before adding it to pasta, although with the jarred alternative, we're a little more relaxed.