Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Pesto Pasta with Garlic Bread

Who doesn't love pesto? It's usually so expensive to buy those tiny jars, but it's amazing how easy it is to make. I served this with garlic bread since that, too, is easy to make and delicious.
Prepare Pesto:
-Destem a bunch of basil, wash the leaves well
-In a food processor, mix some pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan (optional), and the basil leaves: the proportions should be to taste and the olive oil to consistency. Start out with half the basil, a couple cloves of garlic, and maybe 1 tbsp of pine nuts... adjust as you tasteCook:
-Prepare some pasta, al dente
-Mix with pesto
-Garnish with fresh basil and grated Parmesan
Prepare Garlic Bread:
-Crush garlic
-In a small bowl, mash garlic and butter. -Spread onto pieces of bread
-I sprinkled some cheese on top of the bread, too.
Cook:
-Put bread in an oven/toaster oven for about 10 minutes or until bread is slightly brown and butter is completely meltedTips:
-The pasta goes well with sauteed onions and tomatoes, as well as chicken. Smear some pesto on halfway-cooked chicken breast and serve with the meal.
-For the garlic bread, I used regular sliced 9grain bread because that's all I had. This works better with baguette, French bread, Turkish bread, or anything else.
-For the garlic butter, you can add in some dried basil, crushed red pepper, or Parmesan to give it extra flavor.
Drink with a nice wine and enjoy!

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