Peru's creamy emerald pesto pasta: spinach and basil blended with evaporated milk and queso fresco, cloaking spaghetti and usually served alongside a breaded beef steak (bistec apanado).
Created by Ligurian-Genoese immigrants who arrived in Lima in the 19th century and adapted pesto alla Genovese to local ingredients, swapping basil for spinach and Parmesan for queso fresco.
Lush, velvety and deeply green, with the grassy sweetness of spinach rounded by creamy milk and salty-fresh cheese. It tastes richer and gentler than Italian pesto, never gritty, with a comforting dairy hum. A breaded steak on the side adds savory crunch.
Blending rather than pounding, plus evaporated milk in place of olive oil, produces an emulsified, ultra-smooth sauce; the milk fat and queso fresco mellow the herbs' bite and cling to the pasta.
Variations
With walnuts or pecans instead of pine nuts, with a fried egg on top, with bistec apanado or grilled chicken, or as tallarines verdes a la huancaina (topped with huancaina sauce).
On the Palate
Where Tallarines Verdes Peruvian sits in the Peruvian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 14 min
Boil spinach and basil briefly to soften, then drain.
- 25 min
Saute chopped onion and garlic in oil until soft.
- 33 min
Blend spinach, basil, the sauteed aromatics, evaporated milk, and queso fresco into a smooth green sauce.
Watch outBlend the sauce until completely smooth and no fleck of leaf remains — any grit here won't disappear and the sauce won't cling to the pasta.
- 43 min
Return the sauce to the pan and warm gently, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- 59 min
Cook spaghetti in salted water until al dente, then drain.
Watch outDrain the pasta at al dente with a bit of bite left — it keeps softening in the warm sauce, so slightly firm now is right.
- 62 min
Toss the hot pasta in the warm green sauce until fully coated.
Watch outToss over gentle heat only until every strand is coated — boil the sauce and the cheese-and-milk emulsion splits into oily curds.
- 71 min
Plate and grate extra cheese over the top.
- 81 min
Serve immediately, traditionally with a breaded steak.
