National Wine Day | Spicy Pesto Pasta

One of my favorite things to eat is a fresh caprese salad with basil oil and balsamic drizzled over it. Without any one of the elements, it ceases to be a caprese, but I can still enjoy immensely…except if basil is removed. I love the basil the most and it’s the most integral part of the entire dish.

Then, when it comes to sandwiches, I love slices of chicken with basil pesto. I love a grilled flatbread with pesto. If this tells you anything, it should be that I just loveeeeee pesto. I made a great basil pesto pasta before, but I wanted to change it up a little bit and give it some more depth of flavor and spice (of course).

It’s National Wine Day and my husband and I felt like having one of our favorites, Pesto Pasta, for lunch. It’s a nice, relaxing Sunday, and it’s easy to make this pesto pasta so you can just continue relaxing. It’s also an excellent option for a weeknight dinner. In and done in 30 minutes, it’s ideal when you want a quick meal that has a taste you can’t get enough of.

It’s creamy, full of basil flavor, and then hits you with some spice and wine. It turned out to be better than my best pesto pasta.

I hope you love it!

Print Recipe

Spicy Pesto Pasta

Yield: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound rotini pasta
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
• Pinch dried parsley
• 1/4 cup sweet white wine
• 4 Tbsp basil pesto
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• Pecorino romano, grated

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, draining when cooked.
2. In a large saute pan, combine butter, flour, garlic powder and parsley over medium heat. Cook 1 minute, stirring often, until thickened. Stir in wine, deglazing the pan.
3. Stir in pesto, milk, and hot sauce. Cook 2-5 minutes, stirring often, or until fully heated.
4. Remove pesto mixture from heat, stir in pasta, and top with grated pecorino romano.