Pasta with Fresh Herbs

Name: Pasta with Fresh Herbs: Arugula, Basil and Parsley
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Short pasta 250 g; Water for boiling pasta 2–3 l; Salt for boiling pasta 14–21 g (7 g per 1 l of water); Arugula 1 bunch; Fresh basil 3-4 sprigs; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Garlic 1-2 cloves; Olive oil 3 tbsp; Salt, black pepper, balsamic vinegar to taste; Parmesan 50 g; Tomato 1

☆ Rate it

30 mins

Italian pasta with herbs, or rather with a sauce of fresh green herbs and olive oil, is one of the best simple ways to make a good, tasty breakfast. It could not be simpler: toss boiled pasta with the herbs and season with spices and olive oil. If you do not have to go anywhere after breakfast, you can add a little garlic to the herb sauce.

Parsley, basil and arugula are very common herbs in the Mediterranean region. They are available all year round, always fresh, and make an excellent herb sauce for pasta, as well as a vitamin-rich salad or simply a green side for meat. I know many people who like to add fresh herbs to their main dishes.

Arugula is a wonderful salad green. You often see it called rocket, roquette or eruca. It is an herbaceous plant with deeply cut leaves and a very rich, slightly peppery flavor. In cooking, arugula is mostly used in all kinds of salads and sauces. Sometimes you can find the famous Genoese pesto made with arugula instead of basil. It is quite unusual and tasty.

Ubiquitous parsley is probably the best-known aromatic green seasoning here, and I simply cannot accept chicken soup without it. Notably, parsley can be used fresh, dried, salted or as part of fragrant herb blends. Parsley root is excellent in soups.

And then there is fragrant green basil, the ideal green herb for many dishes and sauces. It also goes by other names, such as regan or sweet basil. Fresh or dried basil leaves are a wonderful seasoning for many dishes, for Italian pizza, and the base of a pasta sauce. Pasta with basil is an exceptionally tasty and healthy dish.

To make pasta with herbs, you need good Italian pasta and very fresh herbs. And, of course, half an hour, which is not much for the start of a day. Despite its simplicity, the dish is very filling, and you will not want to eat again until lunch.

Ingredients

2 servings

Short pasta 250 g
Water for boiling pasta 2–3 l
Salt for boiling pasta 14–21 g (7 g per 1 l of water)

Arugula 1 bunch
Fresh basil 3-4 sprigs
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Salt, black pepper, balsamic vinegar to taste

Parmesan 50 g
Tomato 1

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Ingredients and the herb sauce

A dish that is simple in both ingredients and preparation. The whole pasta sauce is just finely chopped fresh herbs, a clove of garlic and olive oil. To make pasta with herbs really tasty, it is important to take the freshest herbs, ideally straight from the garden. Or, if you buy them, at least keep them in ice water for a few hours. Then the leaves become crisp and juicy.

It is better to take a short pasta with a complex or ridged surface. Penne, short tubes cut at an angle, or fusilli, short twisted spirals, will work. This kind of pasta holds the sauce well on its surface and, besides, is always available in stores.

Prepare the herbs: wash all the herbs and sort through them, removing any rotten or spoiled leaves. Pull the leaves off the parsley and basil stems and discard the stems, since they are tough and not good for the sauce. Sort through the arugula and pinch the stalk off each leaf.

Finely chop all the herbs with a knife. It is better not to use a blender or chopper, as it will release a lot of juice. By the way, a chef’s knife makes it very easy to chop food finely, and you can learn quickly. The cut comes out fine and even.
Make the sauce. If it suits you, I recommend adding 1-2 peeled, finely chopped garlic cloves to the herbs. Salt the herbs and garlic and pepper generously. Mix in a bowl and wait a few minutes for the salt to dissolve. Add a few drops (not spoonfuls) of balsamic vinegar and mix again. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil and mix. This gives you a sauce that makes pasta with herbs wonderful.

Pasta

Boil the pasta in 2-3 l of water with salt added, at 7 g of salt per liter of water (14–21 g). Bring the water to a boil over high heat, add the salt and put in the pasta. It is important not to overcook the pasta. The cooking time that gives an al dente texture is on the package. Drain the boiled pasta in a colander to let the water run off.

Mix the pasta with the sauce. While it is hot, put the boiled pasta in a deep bowl and add the sauce of herbs and olive oil. Toss gently but thoroughly so the herbs are evenly distributed.

Serving

Divide the pasta with herbs among plates and sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan.
Add a few thin slices of fresh tomato and garnish with sprigs of herbs.
Serve the pasta with herbs right away, while it is hot.
Pasta with herbs can easily be made with other kinds of herbs too, to your taste.

Calories and macros

660 kcal

Serving ≈ 420 g

Protein17 g11% of kcal
Fat23 g32% of kcal
Carbs91 g57% of kcal

100 g157 kcalProtein 4.1 gFat 5.4 gCarbs 21.7 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

Enjoyed the recipe? Pick me as a preferred source on Google, and you'll see my recipes more often in search. Choose on Google →

How did you like this recipe?

Thanks for rating!

Pasta with Fresh Herbs

Ingredients

For boiling

For the sauce

For serving