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
As stated in a previous comment, the overwhelming flavor of lime made this almost unbearable. With perhaps some tweaking this could be an ok recipe but as it is now it is unfinished and does not have a the consistency and composure that you would want from a pasta sauce
Would NOT RECOMMEND this to anyone else
I made this as soon as I found your recipe…today! So easy, simple, and yummy! I just added extra lime ’cause I love the zing!
I made this for dinner tonight. My family and i absolutely loved it ! This recipe is a keeper. Thanks so much !!!
This recipe is simple and fantastic. If we’re eating with the kids, I go easy on the ginger and red pepper flakes to cool it off a notch. I make a double batch of the sauce to freeze, then I only have to thaw the pesto and cook some noodles for dinner. Delicious!
I FINALLY tried this recipe, after seeing it a couple of months ago. Needless to say, I wish I’d done it sooner. It was a huge hit at my house. Everyone raved about how the flavors just popped. Thank you!!
I love making pesto out of other ingredients other than basil and pine nuts! I have used spinach and almonds, arugula and pecans and I have used cilantro and peanuts but not together. This sounds so good especially with the other sauce ingredients. Can’t wait to try it!
Just made this, sooo awesome! I tweeked it a bit though, used cashews instead of peanuts. And used organic spinach fettuccine noodles instead. Turned out pretty amazing.
I hate to give a bad report but that is what this dish was – bad. It tasted like a lime was blended up and thrown in noodles. All of the other flavors were completely missing except for the intense bitterness of the lime zest. It was so strong that after we rinsed off the noodles to try and salvage dinner people could still taste the lime. We have always had great success with OurBestBites recipes but this one is not one to be recommended.