Possibly one of my favorite spring greens is arugula – I love the peppery sharpness of it, and it shines so well in this lemony arugula pistachio pesto pasta.

The slight bitterness of the arugula is perfectly balanced with the sweet pistachios in this spring pesto. Plus, the lemon juice and zest add a pop of brightness to the sauce. The pesto is transformed into a silky smooth sauce with the help of starchy pasta water and tossed with rigatoni/mezze maniche pasta. It’s the perfect spring greens pasta!

Pistachio Pesto Pasta Ingredients

Rigatoni or Mezze Maniche: I love Mezze Maniche from Frankies 457 – it works so well with this sauce. But any tube-shaped pasta, like rigatoni, would work well here.
Raw pistachios: Aka pistachio nutmeats.
Arugula or baby arugula: Baby arugula is harvested early, before it fully matures (hence the name). It has a milder, sweeter flavor profile than mature arugula, which is peppery and has a slight bitter note. So, if you’re not the biggest arugula fan, I highly recommend using baby arugula.
Fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic, just one clove
Meyer lemon
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Oregano buds, for topping: I get these from Burlap & Barrel – they taste phenomenal on this pasta. Beyond that, I use these for topping my morning scrambled eggs, on pizza, focaccia, sammies, etc. The applications are endless.
Ice cubes: More on this below!

How to Make this Pistachio Pesto Pasta

Cook the pasta until al dente, reserve 1 cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta.

In parallel, make the pesto. To a high-powered blender, add the basil, arugula, pistachios, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, water, ice, and kosher salt. Blend on low, slowly ramping up the speed to medium-high. Blend until creamy and smooth, stopping the blender as needed to scrape down the sides or pop air bubbles. Pop the pesto into a bowl and cover the pesto with cling wrap or olive oil so it doesn’t oxidize.

Add all the pesto to a large skillet/pan along with 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Heat over low heat, stirring until the pesto loosens and becomes a silky, glossy sauce. Dump the pasta in and toss to coat in the sauce. Add more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce (keep the heat on low) I used 2/3 cup of pasta water total. Taste and adjust for salt.

Serve the pasta with freshly cracked black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, grated parmesan (optional), and oregano buds (also optional).

Riff off the Pesto

This arugula pistachio pesto went through multiple rounds of testing, so I thought I’d share my findings with you. Feel free to use only arugula in the pesto – use 60g arugula total. On the flip side, you can also use just basil if you’re not the biggest arugula fan – use 30g basil.

Notes

Highly recommend adding the basil and arugula to the blender first – the weight of the pistachios will keep it at the bottom of the blender and prevent it from escaping up the sides.
The ice does a few things in this pesto. The cold from the ice helps shock the herbs/arugula, preventing oxidation that could happen from the heat of the blender. Keeping the pesto super green! Additionally, the ice helps emulsify the pesto, creating a creamy, smoother iteration than the traditional rustic oily pesto.
If you have any leftovers, save it in a glass container in the fridge along with the reserved pasta water. To reheat, add to a large skillet/pan along with a splash (about 1/4 cup) of pasta water. Heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the sauce comes together.
If you want to make just one serving of pasta, you can either make the pesto recipe as-is, and save half of it in the fridge for later. Make sure to cover the surface with plastic wrap or olive oil to prevent oxidation. Alternatively, you can make a half-batch of the pesto. I’d recommend using a smaller blender if you have it – a lot of blenders don’t work well if there’s not enough volume.

Can’t wait for you to make this pistachio pesto pasta! Please leave a starred review and rating, love hearing from you!