How Should You Sauce Your Pesto?

If you want your pesto to stay bright green and super-fresh, always sauce it off-heat. This will preserve the basil's color, aroma and flavor as much as possible.

Here are our steps for properly saucing pesto:

1. Cook 12 ounces dried pasta in 4 quarts boiling water seasoned with 2 tablespoons kosher salt until al dente.
2. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
3. Transfer to warmed large bowl and toss in ⅓ cup of the reserved cooking water for long pasta shapes (such as linguine and spaghetti) or ¼ cup water for short pasta shapes (such as fusilli and penne).
4. Top with 1 cup pesto alla Genovese. Toss to combine at the table.