Name: Green Chile-Cilantro Pesto Sauce
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro; 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese; 4 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chiles; 1 jalapeño chile , seeded and chopped fine; 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted; 2 garlic cloves , peeled; 1/2 cup olive oil

Why This Recipe Works

This inventive Southwestern update is a new take on a traditional pesto sauce recipe. We prefer the heat of canned hot green chiles in this pesto sauce recipe, but medium or mild chiles will also work well. This pesto recipe works with both strand pastas and tubular shapes. To prevent overcooking the pasta, we didn’t rely on the cooking instructions on the pasta box; sometimes we needed to shave several minutes off the recommended cooking time for perfectly al dente pasta. We used a liquid measuring cup to retrieve 1/2 cup pasta water from the pot just before draining. If the sauced pasta was too dry, we used the water to achieve the desired consistency.

Instructions

Puree cilantro, cheese, green chiles, jalapeño, pine nuts, and garlic in food processor until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. With processor running, add oil in steady stream until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss pesto with cooked pasta and reserved pasta cooking water, if necessary. Serve.