This Spaghetti Pesto is made with a easy and simple flavor-packed basil walnut pesto sauce, tossed with spaghetti noodles and tomatoes made in instant pot pressure cooker.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

For Cooking Pasta in Instant Pot:

  • 8 oz spaghetti
  • 2 cups water
  • salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon oil (optional)

For Homemade Pesto Sauce:[Serves 1 Cup]

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cups pine nuts (or walnuts)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (or romano)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

Garnish:

  • cherry tomatoes (or roasted tomatoes)
  • parmesan cheese (or baby mozzarella cheese)
  • red chili flakes

Method

How to Cook Pasta:

  1. Stovetop Method: Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions (about 10-11 minutes). Once the pasta is cooked, drain excess water and keep it aside.
  2. Instant Pot Method: Add dry spaghetti, oil, water, salt to the Instant pot. Most of the spaghetti pasta should be covered in the water. If it is not, add some more water. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes. Using spaghetti pasta in this recipe which has 10 minutes for cooking on the stove top. So to cook on Instant Pot – Divide the cooking time by half and minus one for al dente pasta. So it's 4 minutes. For softer pasta do 5 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, Quick Release the pressure manually. Open the lid, drain if there is any extra water.

Make the Pesto Sauce:

  1. Add the basil, garlic, pine nuts or walnuts in the food processor. Pulse several times until very finely minced.
  2. Next add the lemon juice, parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. While the processor is running, slowly pour the extra virgin olive oil and process until the sauce is smooth.

Assemble:

  1. Add ¾ cup of pesto sauce to the pot, and toss well to make sure the spaghetti pasta is well-coated.
  2. Add in the baby tomatoes or roasted tomatoes. Give pesto pasta with tomatoes another toss to combine. Sprinkle over some chili flakes and top with parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.