It was probably the delicious Pesto Pasta that was served last Friday by our Department Head that prompted me to prepare a Basil Pesto Pasta this evening. It's been years since the last time I cooked one. I am not really into cooking and can only prepare a handful of pasta dishes and desserts but it's always satisfying to eat what you made so I shopped for ingredients last night and prepared the dish today.


Pesto is not really a good photography subject (with all that green) but its taste
is truly beyond great! Love your own, of course!

I followed a recipe on-line but I tweaked it a bit to conform to the taste I want. Here's the recipe with some modifications:

Ingredients

2 Cups basil leaves, packed
1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 Cup pine nuts
2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Equipment needed: food processor or blender

Steps

1. Cook the pasta until it's al dente. I chose San Remo pasta linguine since it's thick and can easily counter the strong taste of the pesto.

2. Combine the basil with the pine nuts and pulse a few times in a blender. (If you are using walnuts and they are not chopped, pulse them a few times first before adding the basil.) Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.

3. Slowly add the extra virgin olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serving Size: 7 to 8

My Basil Pesto Pasta turned out creamy even if I was opting for the saucy-and-floating-in-olive-oil kind. Its creaminess was brought by the parmesan cheese which was blended together with the other ingredients as opposed to putting it as a topping. I will also be replacing the pine nuts with walnuts next time since I like a lighter taste.

All the ingredients are fortunately available at SM Supermarket and total cost is around Php 370.00 ($9.00). You may also add chicken, ham or bacon bits as toppings.

Next on my list? Pasta Pomodorro and my family's favorite, Pasta With Creamy Mushrooms and Ham. Watch out!