Hey Pesto! Pasta

Hey Pesto! Pasta

I just love it when the herbs in the garden are bursting with love! I love the smell of the basil and mint when you brush past them or accidentally knock into them! Mmmmmmm, ok I’ll just pick myself back up off the floor!

So I had to make something scrumptious with the basil. First stop Pesto! I have put together a little blurb to show those of you that have never made fresh pesto, and if you haven’t, shame on you! It’s the best thing EVER and super duper easy.

Here is what you need:

Basil

Garlic

Parmesan

Olive Oil
Pinenuts

(ignore the Boccochini in the shot and bread, my bad)

Add to the food processor all ingredients in moderation, I used half the bunch of basil (approx 4 tablespoons), a couple of generous tablespoons of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, approx 2-3 tbsp pinenuts and about half a cup of parmesan cheese. Process until granulated paste. Add olive oil if required to make more moist.

Voila – Now you have pesto! You could add some lemon to stop it going brown if you wanted it to last a few days.

Now all I did was use it in a simple vegetarian pasta to use a punnet of gorgeous tomatoes.

Pasta Sauce

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Pesto – to taste

Lemon

Punnet of Grape Tomatoes – sliced in half

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

250g Baby Boccochini Cheese balls

Heat oil in large frypan, add the tomatoes and fry them lightly. Next add your pesto to taste (I added alot), and season a squeeze of half a lemon’s juice and then season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.  Add your cheeses to the sauce.

Do not leave your sauce to cook longer then 5 additional minutes once cheese is added, as the tomatoes will turn to mush, and though the taste will be the same, its not near as appetising. 

I served 4 people with this dish.  I also used Linguine to serve the dish nicely, the volume of it soaked up the juices nicely.  After you drain your pasta, place it back in the sauce and then serve it onto the plates.  Sprinkle the served pasta with additional Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper.