Thursday 22 March 2007

Pesto Pasta Special


Pesto Pasta Special


This one comes from Jo Pratt’s In the Mood for Food (again!) – definitely one of my darlings of the moment. It comes from the Lazy chapter, and is basically pasta with pesto sauce with a few additions.

The recipe is very loose "as much pasta as you fancy", with the following added in at will: balsamic vinegar, pesto, olive oil, 1 ripe tomato, 1 red onion, olives, seasoning and Parmesan cheese. I used orrechetti pasta and (I can’t help myself) I changed the recipe a bit! It is still Jo’s recipe really, but I used the ingredients in a different order. I used the olive oil to fry the red onion (2) for 5 minutes, then added in (3) tomatoes and the olives to warm through in the heat of the pan. Everything else was just added in as per recipe. It’s a really successful blend, much better than just basic pesto sauce, pasta and Parmesan (- well to me anyway!), and little one liked it which is a real consideration now. I made it in about 20 mins, but if you were really pushed it could be done faster, I’ve never managed to achieve the hit the kitchen running Ready Steady Cook type speed.

This is the third pasta I’ve cooked from this book, the others being Creamy caramelized Onion & Parmesan pasta and Creamy pea, bacon and Brie pasta. They were both been lovely, but my little one was not so keen on the onion one, so won’t make it again for a good while, but she loved the Brie. It’s funny I thought it would have been the other way round. Feeding children is a real learning curve!

8 comments:

Anna's kitchen table said...

KJ, Sophie must be the best fed child in the land!

I love the fact that she is subjected to so many new and varied tastes, you are doing a fantastic job!

xx

Kelly-Jane said...

LOL Anna! I try to go with the philosophy that she has to taste a little of things, and if she doesn't like it or them that's ok!

KJxx

Kathryn said...

Mmm that looks lovely! You're as bad with Jo Pratt's book as me!!!

And I am impressed with your little one's eating adventures.

Kathryn x

Kelly-Jane said...

Kathryn

I know! I'm starting to wean myself off, and other books have coming back into the rotation again :)

KJxx

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I make this quick pasta all the time -- with pesto, tomatoes and black olives. And here's my secret ingredient: a tablespoon of mayonnaise! Sounds weird, I know, but it brings all of the tastes together. Really.

Freya said...

I love this kind of laid-back pasta dish, no hassle and no stress!

Kelly-Jane said...

Hi Lydia!

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that tablespoon of mayo a go next time :)

KJxx

Gemma said...

I love this book, I'll have to look more carefully at the pasta dishes as something to make pasta with pesto a bit more exciting sounds ideal!