Eats: Veggie-pesto pasta
9:38 PM
I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to make some pesto and Monday after work I finally did! I even braved the hot temps and made a pasta out of the sauce by adding noodles and veggies. Kyle and I are pesto addicts, but we hate the kind from the store because there is always too much salt in it. I made some from scratch a few years ago and it was really good! So since we have four giant basil plants in the yard, I decided to go to town on it. I don't really follow recipes, I use them more as guidelines, but I will try to explain how I made it and also some instructions for the pasta.
Pesto
-Basil, about two cups firmly packed.
-Walnuts or Pine nuts, about a half-cup.
-2-3 garlic cloves.
-2/3 + cup extra virgin olive oil.
-Salt & pepper to taste
-Parmesan cheese.
*Mix the basil, garlic, walnuts and about 2/3 cup of olive oil in a blender, until it resembles a thick sauce. Remove from blender and add more olive oil (I kinda drizzled it along until I felt it was enough). I didn't have any salt or pepper (how, I don't know) so I ended up adding a pinch of celery salt and it came out fine. I sprinkled only a little bit of the cheese because dairy makes me sick, but really it is all about taste. I would start out with a little and add more as you feel necessary. You can also squeeze a little lemon juice in it for taste as well, and I have heard hemp nuts are great instead of walnuts (the pine nuts were very pricey at the store I was at).
**You can always make batches of this and freeze for three months if you leave out the cheese (you can add it when it thaws). Just make sure to drizzle a little of the olive oil on the top before you throw it in the freezer.
Next I took some whole-wheat conchiglie noodles and cooked them up. I then scoured the fridge for some veggies and came up with tomatoes and red peppers. I sliced them both and sauteed them with some of the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled a little of the celery salt on them. When the pasta was done, I simply drained it and mixed the pesto in, right in the pot. I topped the veggies on when I was done and I threw together a simple salad out of spinach leaves, tomato and some of the cheese and a little Asian-sesame dressing.
This was enough for the two of us, two big plates as you can see and there was enough left-over. Kyle added some grilled chicken to the left-overs, which is something I wanted to do, but I had forgot and left it in my freezer, haha.
I was pretty pleased with this simple dish as I will only really cook things that take about a half-hour to make. I am going to be including more food posts on this blog because now our garden is kicking butt, I am ready to start actually trying new things. I am making alterations to my diet as well, I am going dairy-free (as much as I can). I went shopping today and got a bunch of essentials to help me make the transition. I love dairy but it hates me and my reactions to it is getting worse and worse. My Mom's birthday was last week and I barely touched my dinner because of the giant glop of Greek yogurt that I ate that afternoon. Kyle has been pretty supportive so far, which is awesome. My diet is going to be similar to a vegan diet, only I still eat meat, and probably honey. I can still eat products that have dairy if it is a small amount, but I am going to see how it goes.
In other news, this bad-boy and 12 of his brothers and sisters are popping up in the garden so stay tuned to see how I figure out a meal around this:
19 Musings
Mmm... fresh basil from the garden makes the best pesto. I'm drooling. More food posts, please!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good! I'm going to pick up some fresh basil from the farmers market saturday and try this out.
ReplyDeleteWow..so that's your Basil! My Dad raises it..but we've never made pesto. Funny, his sister wanted to name her first born Basil..but she didn't.
ReplyDeleteUm..squash! Great in salads, on pizza,sauteed, with onion and velveeta! & fried, of course.
Totally yummy! I wish we had squash!
ReplyDeleteOh so cool. Love the foodie pictures!
ReplyDeleteThat looks soooooo yummy, Sara!
ReplyDeleteAnd, we had squash in ratatouille the other day! So delicious!
What a coincidence- we had pesot and pasta last night. Yours looks so yummy. I must try it with walnuts next time.
ReplyDeleteSARA! that just about remind me! i wana make cheesy ravioli tonight! tsk!
ReplyDeleteI've never made pesto myself, because basil is so darn expensive unless you grow it yourself (we don't have a garden). but I'd love to!
ReplyDeleteI'm also a huge pesto fan and this looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool about the pesto. We like it on French bread and pizza.
ReplyDeleteOhmigosh this looks scrummy, Sara! I'm invited to dinner next time I'm in your neck of the woods, right? :P
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a good, healthy meal! We love pesto too, especially ohmemade pesto :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your reactions to dairy :(
http://lifeisaromanticpoem.blogspot.com/
mmmmmmmmmmm nom nom nom
ReplyDeletexo
lyndsey of hellolyndsey
Congratulations Sara! You're the winner of the Dr. Perricone Giveaway! Stop by Cafe Fashionista to find out how to claim your prize! :)
ReplyDeleteUmmmm, jealous! :) This looks absolutely delicious and me being a vegetarian, whew I want some!
ReplyDeleteWill you cook me some because I absolutely can't cook to save my life haha!
xoxo, Bree
http://vivalabreee.blogspot.com/
YUM! I adore pesto, this looks delish! Thanks for sharing, lovely! You've inspired me to do something with all the basil growing in my garden :)
ReplyDeleteAhh this looks so delicious. I need to start eating healthier. Wahh it's hard when I don't have my own kitchen!
ReplyDeleteYUM! Pesto is the shit...and I just bought a basil plant for my house so I'm totally going to make some. I never thought about freezing it; I wonder how well it taste after doing so b/c if it tastes fine, then I'm totally going to do that!
ReplyDeleteTalk nerdy to me.