Recipe by Jodie Smith

Tricolore Spaghetti with Aubergine and Parmesan Pesto

Name: Tricolore Spaghetti with Aubergine and Parmesan Pesto
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 22 min
Yield: 4

Serves4 people

Prep10 min

Cook12 min

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Good Hair Day Pasta Spaghetti - Tricolore (500g)

$24.95

Hand-packed and dispatched from our Corio, Victoria warehouse, with free delivery Australia-wide on orders over $100.

Three coloured strands and one jar of pesto, on the table in about twenty minutes. The only real trick with a tricolore spaghetti is to dress it lightly, because a heavy sauce buries the thing you paid for. Two thirds of a jar and a ladle of the cooking water is plenty for four.

Ingredients

Serves 4. Prep 10 minutes. Cook 12 minutes. We stock the pasta, the pesto, the oil and the almonds. The lemon, the salt and any cheese you grate at the end are a supermarket buy.

The pasta
500g	Good Hair Day Pasta Spaghetti Tricolore
2 tbsp	salt, for the water
The sauce
110g	BELAZU Aubergine and Parmesan Pesto, about two thirds of the jar
2 tbsp	BELAZU Crete Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1	lemon, zest and a squeeze of juice
150ml	pasta cooking water, reserved
	freshly ground black pepper
To finish
30g	Mr Filbert's French Rosemary Almonds, roughly chopped
	parmesan or pecorino to grate, optional
If you want heat instead
1 jar	Belazu Chilli Harissa Pesto

The aubergine pesto declares dairy, because it is 8 per cent Parmigiano cheese, and the almonds contain almonds. Our pack information does not say what rennet the cheese is made with, so we are not labelling this dish vegetarian. If that matters at your table, the chilli harissa jar is a tomato pesto built on sun dried tomatoes and rose harissa, so check that pack instead.

Why coloured pasta wants less sauce, not more

Our product page for this spaghetti says the colour comes from natural spinach and tomato pigments worked into durum wheat, and that it is made in Italy. That is the whole point of the box, and it is also the thing that disappears first under a thick sauce. Dress it so the strands are glossy rather than coated, and you still get three colours in the bowl instead of one brown one.

Loosen the jar before it meets the pasta

This pesto is 53 per cent roasted aubergine, so it comes out of the jar as a dense paste rather than a pourable sauce. Beat it with the olive oil in the serving bowl first, then let the hot pasta and a splash of its water do the rest. Tip a cold spoonful straight onto drained spaghetti and it sits in lumps, which is how people end up adding the whole jar and losing the colours anyway.

Method

Serves 4. Prep 10 minutes. Cook 12 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a hard boil and salt it well.
Spoon two thirds of the pesto into a wide serving bowl.
Beat in the olive oil until the paste loosens and turns glossy.
Grate in the lemon zest and add a good grind of black pepper.
Cook the spaghetti until it still has bite, checking two minutes before the pack time.
Lift out a mugful of the cooking water before you drain it.
Drain the pasta and tip it straight into the bowl of loosened pesto.
Add a splash of the reserved water and toss hard for thirty seconds.
Keep adding water a spoonful at a time until the strands look wet rather than clagged.
Taste, add a squeeze of lemon and more salt if it needs it.
Twirl into bowls, scatter over the chopped rosemary almonds and grate on cheese if you want it.

Make ahead, and what to do if the jar has changed

None of this is a make ahead dish, but the chopping is. Chop the almonds and zest the lemon in the morning and the cooking is twelve minutes flat. Once the pesto jar is open our pack information says to keep it refrigerated and use it within two weeks, so buy it for the week you plan to cook rather than for the cupboard.

The aubergine jar runs down fast. If it has gone, Belazu Chilli Harissa Pesto does the same job with a different accent: sun dried tomatoes at 43 per cent and rose harissa at 13 per cent, so more heat and less smoke. Use the same two thirds of a jar. For something with olives in it instead, olive and harissa pasta is the neighbour, and the rest of the shelf is under pasta and risottos.

Common questions

Does coloured pasta taste different?

Barely, and you should not buy it expecting it to. Our product page describes subtle variations in flavour from the spinach and tomato pigments, and that is a fair description: taste the strands on their own and you can tell, taste them under a pesto and you cannot. What you are buying is how it looks in the bowl, which is why it is sold in a box and turns up as a gift. Cook it and dress it so that shows.

How much pesto do I need for 500g of pasta?

About two thirds of a 165g jar for four people as a main, loosened with oil and pasta water. That is less than most people use, and it is deliberate. A dense jarred pesto has far more concentrated flavour per spoonful than a fresh basil one, so the whole jar makes the dish heavy rather than twice as good. If you want it richer, add cheese at the table instead of more pesto.

Can I serve this cold as a salad?

Yes, with one change to the order of work. Dress the spaghetti while it is still hot so the sauce grips, then spread it on a tray to cool rather than leaving it in a bowl where it welds together. Add the almonds only when you serve it or they go soft. Long strands are awkward on a picnic plate, so for a crowd our Christmas pasta salad uses a short shape for exactly that reason.

Good Hair Day Pasta Spaghetti Tricolore is $24.95 for 500g and feeds four generously, and the rest of the range is on the Greenomic page. It sits well in a box with a jar and a bottle of oil from gourmet condiments, which is most of what festive entertaining asks for. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.