Receta Creamy Pesto Pasta
Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Vegetarian Italian dishes
Kids sure are very unpredictable. My son is the picky eater in the house and my daughter is an adventurous eater, but they are slowly reversing their likes. The little one is becoming too picky and doesn't want to try anything new.
I made this creamy pesto pasta for dinner one day and since I wasn't sure if the kids would like it, I made them something else too. But my son declared that pesto sauce is his second favorite pasta sauce right after marinara sauce. Then my little one tried a little bit and wanted to eat it for her dinner too. So the kids ate most of the pasta and the adults ended up eating what I made for the kids.
Thanks to summer, I had fresh basil in my container garden that I used to make this pesto. It is so convenient to just walk outside and get what I need -- I love summers.
Pesto is usually mixed with pasta and served. This is a richer and creamier version with heavy cream and butter. It is quick and easy dish that is fancy enough to feed company or picky kids.
Ingredients: Serves 4
- Short cut Pasta - 8oz. (Penne, rotini, elbows or any short cut pasta)
- Basil - 1cup
- Toasted Pine nuts - 3tbsp (can be substituted with walnuts or other nuts)
- Garlic - 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
- Parmesan cheese - ¼cup+more for the pasta, grated
- Extra virgin Olive oil - 3~4tbsp
- Heavy Cream - ¼~½cup
- Unsalted butter - 1tbsp
- Cherry tomatoes - ½cup, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes diced)
- Salt & Pepper - to taste
Method:
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and reserve a cup of pasta cooking water.
In the meantime, in a food processor combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper. Pulse a few times to blend the ingredients. With the machine running, drizzle olive oil until a smooth paste forms. Set aside.
In a pan, heat the butter and heavy cream over medium-low flame. Stir in pesto, whisk to combine and turn off the heat. Add the cooked pasta, chopped tomatoes and additional grated cheese and mix well. Serve immediately.