Tag: basil

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pesto pasta salad

Last week I was lucky to attend an awesome blogging conference Alt Design Summit. It was fun and inspiring and I’m buried under a mountain of insanely cute business cards from all of my new bloggy friends. I’ll share more soon, but since I know you’re hungry, here is a recipe for a quick, easy and delicious pesto pasta salad.

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Pesto pasta is an old standby here. I make it about every other week in the summer when basil is in season and readily available. We usually have it for lunch over the course of a few days. It is fresh, flavorful and cheap. Plus you can through a little of whatever you’ve got lying around in it and it still turns out pretty good. I guess pesto just works miracles like that.

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Pesto Pasta Salad
For the pesto
1 bunch basil (we used a small bunch of basil and some arrugula which was a day or two past its prime)
1 lemon, zest and juice
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup nuts (pine nuts are the standard, but we’ve used pecans and walnuts also)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 olive oil
salt and pepper

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In the bowl of a food processor combine basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic nuts and parmesan. Pulse until you’ve got a coarse paste. Now turn the food processor on and drizzle olive oil in through the top hole until the pesto comes together and everything is chopped uniformly. Season with salt and pepper.

For the pasta salad
1 lb dry pasta
1 can whole pitted olives
8 oz mini mozzarella balls
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 batch of pesto

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Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt it until it tastes like sea water. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse for a minute or two with cold water. Combine pasta, olives, mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Serve at room temperature or cold.

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This pasta salad recipe is super flexible. You can add more veggies—blanched green beans are great, kidney beans or chick peas are a good way to make it heartier, marinated artichokes would be lovely too! Just remember that more sauce is better when you’re making a pasta that you’ll refrigerate and eat over a few days. Without enough sauce, the pasta will seem dry, bland and rather sad.

-Emily

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fettucini with tomatoes, onions and thyme

I made this pasta for Jordan and I about two weeks ago. It was so good I decide to make it again for my birthday dinner with friends last weekend. Because it is so simple, the quality of the ingredients can really shine. If you’ve got fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, this is the dish for them. We sadly don’t have a garden, so heirloom tomatoes from Bi-Rite had to substitute—tough life.

Fettuccine with Tomatoes, Onions and Thyme
10 oz fresh fettuccine (dried will work just fine too, but save some of the pasta water to add into the sauce)
1 basket cherry tomatoes, whole or sliced in half
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 t fresh thyme
1/4 cup parmesan
2 T butter
olive oil, salt, pepper
1 t basil, sliced thinly
1 ball of burrata

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Dice the onion and garlic. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and saute for two more minutes. Add the tomatoes.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook about two minutes. Drain and put back into the pot. Add the butter and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Plate the pasta and top with the tomato mixture. Top with half of the burrata and fresh basil if you’ve got it around. Enjoy!

-Emily

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pesto potatoes and cauliflower

Jordan and I were brainstorming a menu for our supper club dinner last week with two goals in mind. One, make something simple, and two, use up the lingering produce from our CSA. Well, I must say Jordan was hit with a tremendous stroke of genius when he came up with this idea. The roasted potatoes and cauliflower are delicious in their own right and then you toss them in a fresh basil pesto and top them with a bit of parmesan. Yep, totally awesome.

You can either roast the potatoes in the oven or pan fry them. The first time we made this dish, we fried them. The second time we were cooking for a crowd and decided to roast them instead. Both methods turned out well, but roasting easier and is less hands-on so I chose that for the recipe below.

Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower with Pesto  
1 bunch basil, leaves removed from stems
1 small handful pine nuts, walnuts or pistachios
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper
4 – 6 potatoes, russets or yukon golds, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 head cauliflower, cut into small to medium-sized chunks

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

In a food processor, process the basil with the nuts and parmesan. Add the garlic and some salt and pepper.  Add the lemon juice. Slowly add the olive oil to emulsify the mixture. Taste for seasoning and pour into a small bowl. You can make the pesto days ahead of time and refrigerate it, or even weeks ahead and freeze it.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Toss them with some olive oil and a nice pinch of salt. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes,  tossing occasionally, until they start to brown. After 40 minutes, add the cauliflower and roast another 20 minutes. Once the potatoes and cauliflower are brown, remove them from the oven and season with additional salt. Pour them into a large bowl and add half of the pesto. Toss to coat. Taste and add more pesto if needed. Sprinkle with parmesan just before serving.

We served these potatoes the first night with a roasted pork shoulder. We had the leftovers the next morning with eggs sunny side up.  Both ways were delicious!  It’s worth noting that these potatoes reheat surprisingly well—so make extra.

-Emily

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homemade fettucini with basil pesto

Encouraged by my mushroom pasta victory last weekend,  I decided that I just had to make pasta again when Jordan’s sister Liz and her boyfriend Kyle came to visit. While the boys napped, Liz and I dove into some serious fettucini-making. I rolled and cut the pasta and Liz meticulously separated each strand and found places to dry it in our tinsy kitchen. It was a smooth and successful operation.

We tossed the fresh pasta with a basil pesto that Jordan made earlier in the week and little mozzarella balls. It was light, fresh and satisfying.  Now, after two homemade pasta adventures, I fully appreciate the premium that you pay for fresh pasta at the grocery store. Fresh pasta is a lot of work!

Homemade Fettucini with Basil Pesto
1 lb fresh pasta
1 cup fresh mozzarella, we used bocconcini
1/4 cup basil pesto
salt, pepper, chili flake

For the pasta
I used the same egg pasta recipe that I used last weekend for the mushroom pasta because it was easy (albeit time intensive) and turned out well.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t salt
3 egg yolks
3 eggs
1 T olive oil
1 T water

Mix the flour and salt together.  In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, olive oil and water. On a work surface, pour out the flour mixture and make a well in the center. Pour the eggs into the well. With a fork, stir the eggs in a circular motion slowly bringing more flour into the eggs. Once the flour has soaked up the eggs and it is not in danger of running all over or when you accidentally break through the well and egg is rushing towards the edge of your counter, use a bench scraper to mix the flour and eggs together. It will be crumbly. Knead the dough into a ball using a squeezing motion. Once it has combined, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes. While the dough is resting, make the pesto.

Divide the dough into two balls. Dust one with flour and roll it out into a flat pancake. Open your pasta maker to the largest setting and pass the dough through. Double the dough on itself and pass it though again. Continue to pass the dough through at the largest setting, until it is smooth. Cut the kneaded dough into several smaller pieces. Wrap the pieces you aren’t currently stretching with plastic wrap. Gradually stretch the dough, passing it though progressively thinner settings. Cut the fettuccini using the cutter attachment on your pasta maker or cut into strips with a thin sharp knife. Drape over rolling pins, broom handles and lay into parchment-lined baking sheets until you are ready to cook.

For the pesto
1 bunch basil
1 clove of garlic
2 T untoasted pine nuts
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup plus 2 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
pepper, chili flake

Combine all of the ingredients plus 2 T of olive oil in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Drizzle in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil with the food processor running. Add more salt and pepper if needed. This pesto is so fresh and delicious and will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top before refrigerating so it keeps its vibrant green color.

Put a pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Drain and toss with the basil pesto and mozzarella.

-Emily