Pasta Pesto
22 Jun
[flickr]photo:3786555974[/flickr]
Standing in line at Vapiano’s one night waiting for my dish to be cooked I saw how easy it was to make spaghetti pesto. Too easy I thought to myself. Really easy, and I bet mine will taste even better.
It was a challenge to find good fresh basil. The AH fresh basil was literally 2 springs, hardly enough for a dish for 4 people. Luckily living in The Hague we have the biggest market in Europe, the ‘Haagse Markt‘. You can find almost anything there and the food and vegetable part sells items from all over the world. It was there that my husband found two stands selling fresh basil. A big bag of basil only costs €1,25.
For the pasta I prefer to buy a brand called Delverde Pasta.
Delverde Pasta is authentically produced in the Majella National Park in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Delverde use only the finest Durum Wheat and Natural Spring Water. The use of these quality ingredients, and a traditional Slow Drying Process ensures that this is one of the best premium Pastas on the market. All varieties are available including Spaghetti, Assorted Shapes and Lasagne.
Trust me on this one, if you are not going to make your own pasta, buy this brand. The taste is amazing, it will make all the difference.
Ingredients
1 bag pasta (or spaghetti)
rock salt
handful pine nuts
olive oil
1 bag of fresh basil (app. 2 handfuls)
1 clove minced garlic
freshly grounded black pepper
1 container Garna Padano parmesan cheese shavings
Method
Cook the pasta in salted water. Mean while use a food processor to cut the basil fine, adding plenty of olive oil to make it easily blend. Heat the pine nuts in a dry deep frying pan until golden brown, shake the pan every now and then so they don’t burn. Add the basil & olive oil mix stirring briefly. Add the garlic and black pepper, according to taste, and stir. Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan making sure that the pasta is well coated and heated through. Serve the pasta in a big bowl, add the parmesan cheese and stir.
** If you like it spicy add a couple of slices of chilli pepper to the oil when adding the garlic!
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