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| Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho |
| Bright homegrown tomatoes give pasta salad color, while spicy red pepper flakes give it a kick! |
Late summer – what a great time of year! We finally get to reap the rewards of all our hard work in the vegetable garden. While I try growing some veggies here and there in my small yard, my “regulars” are tomatoes and herbs. (And oh, what you can make with those ingredients!)
One of my favorite cooking tricks is to whip up a batch of pesto, because I can use it in so many ways. My kids love pasta, so that’s an easy pleaser: I simply mix the noodles and pesto together, and voilà: pesto pasta salad! It’s great for side at a summer bbq, or you can add some cooked chicken or cured meats and make it a one-dish meal. Here’s a simple pesto recipe, but feel free to mix it up to change it for your personal tastes. (For fastest results, use a food processor.) Pesto Sauce2 cups of basil leaves, washed
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste)
About ¼-½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 Tbsp. of roasted pine nuts
¼-1/3 cup of freshly shredded parmesan cheese (For best results, try reggiano parmesan.)
Salt to taste
| Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho | | A food processor makes mixing easier, but a blender will do in a pinch. |
First, I heat the pine nuts in a skillet to release the oils and give them a nice toasty flavor. While they’re toasting (it doesn’t take long for them to roast – just a few minutes), I add a handful of basil leaves to the food processor and turn it on, one handful at a time. I’ll drop in one clove of garlic at a time, too, as well as a swizzle of oil. I repeat this until the basil’s all in and chopped.
Next, I add in the pine nuts and whirl them around until they’re finely ground. Finally, I add the freshly shredded cheese and mix it up again. (Before I add too much oil, I check the consistency. I like my pesto rich, but not too oily.) Taste it to see how you like it, and add a little salt for flavor if you like. That’s all there is to it! Simple, easy, and tasty.
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