Step 1: Start by boiling the water in a big pot. When it starts boiling, add the salt and the Monte Banato penne pasta, leaving them to boil for about 6-7 minutes. Strain the pasta and pour olive oil on top of it, for the penne pieces not to stick to each other. Save 1 glass of pasta water as you will need it for the pistachio sauce.

Step 2: Cook the finely chopped onion in a pan with melted butter. After a few minutes, add the minced garlic clove and lemon juice to the pan.

Step 3: Add the chopped pistachio to the pan and mix well. The pistachio needs to roast a little bit for a more intense taste.

Step 4: After 3-4 minutes, add the cooking cream and 100-150 ml of pasta water to the pan, letting it simmer. After simmering for 3-4 minutes, the sauce will start to reduce its volume. Now it’s time to season the sauce with salt and pepper, then add the minced basil leaves and parmesan to the pan, mixing well.

Step 5: Add the cooked pasta to the pan. Turn off the heat then add the ruccola and mini mozzarella balls and give the composition a final mix.

Step 6: Serve the penne pasta with pistachio sauce on a plate, decorating it with parmesan, pistachio pieces and one basil leaf.

Enjoy!