This might be my new favorite pasta dish. If you’re a fan of our Thai Peanut Noodles, you’ll probably love this one too. It’s pretty quick and easy to put together, so it makes a great meatless main dish, or a side dish (try it with our Thai Beef Skewers) or you could toss in some grilled chicken or steak for a one-dish dinner. The profile is bright and fresh and perfectly summery. While a traditional pesto starts out with loads of fresh basil- this version uses cilantro instead. Don’t bother picking the leaves off the stems; cilantro stems are tender and flavorful, so chop them up with the leaves.
Then we add tons of flavor: sesame oil, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, soy sauce and fresh ginger. Instead of pine nuts in an Italian pesto, we’re tossing peanuts in this one.
Pop everything except for the soy sauce in a food processor
And process it until it looks like a pesto, fairly smooth but with pieces of cilantro and peanuts still. Add in a little soy sauce at the end.
That’s it folks. Toss that pesto with hot pasta; sprinkle it with a little chopped peanuts and cilantro and you’re good to go. I like a little fresh squeeze of lime juice too. The pesto itself it super yummy over grilled steak too.
The flavors are so fantastic; it’s like you can taste every little ingredient in there; the sweetness of the sugar and ginger, a hint of spice from the pepper flakes, the roasted crunch of the peanuts and a little freshness and tang from the lime juice and cilantro. Try it; you’ll love it!
PS- One tip I have is to serve it immediately. As with many pasta dishes, the longer it sits, the pasta absorbs the sauce and the flavors mellow. Leftovers still taste great, but the fresher the better.
Recipe slightly adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Ingredients
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
zest and juice from one lime (about 2 tsp zest and 2 Tbs juice)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts (plus more for serving, if desired)
2-3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3/4 pound (12 oz) linguine or spaghetti, cooked according to box instructions
Instructions
In a food processor, combine cilantro (save a bit of cilantro for garnish), garlic, ginger, vegetable and sesame oils, red pepper flakes, lime zest and juice, brown sugar, and peanuts (basically everything except soy sauce). Pulse until a coarse paste forms. Season with soy sauce and pulse to combine. In a large bowl, toss pesto with hot pasta. Roughly chop additional peanuts and sprinkle over pasta along with extra cilantro leaves and lime wedges if desired. Serve immediately. (If you’re prepping and not quite ready to eat yet, I recommend waiting to toss with pasta until right before serving for the best flavor.) Serves 4 main dish or 6-8 small sides.
Questions & Reviews
This looks delicious, but I’m on a low fat diet. Do you think it would change the taste too much if I replaced the vegetable oil with EVOO?
EVOO would be just fine. If you’re worried about the flavor, just use a “light” olive oil.
So…I’m pretty slow about finding awesome food blogs (kinda behind the curb here 😉 but holy crap I am reaaaally enjoying your site!! So great to see yummy healthful recipes presented in such a beautiful way. Very nice work and nice to finally stumble upon you!!
I am finally at a point in my life where my taste buds have changed and I actually like cilantro. I hated it for so long! This recipe looks and sounds delicious and I will be trying it soon!
I totally understand and vouch for your suggestion not to mix it in with the pasta until time to serve, but how far ahead do you think you could make the pesto and maybe refrigerate until ready to use? I’d love to make this at home and then take it with us to the beach…
I love pesto variations!
Oh my goodness I know I’m going to love this. Your Thai Peanut Pasta Salad is one of my favorites. Thank you!
Thank you from the bottom of a cilantro lover’s heart!
Love the Everyday Food Magazine, and I had this on my list of recipes to try — it’s good to know it was a success!
What would you recommend serving that with?
haha…read ENTIRE post before commenting and especially asking q’s..got it 🙂
Sounds Yummy! Thanks