Pasta Al Pesto Food

JUICY PESTO PASTA!

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the salt.
• Add pasta and cook for the length of time per the packet.
• Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of of the pasta cooking water.
• Drain pasta in a colander, leave it for a minute.
• Transfer pasta to a bowl (do not use pasta cooking pot, too hot).
• Add pesto and 1/4 cup of pasta water. Toss to coat pasta in pesto, adding more water if required to make pasta silky and saucy, rather than dry and sticky.
• Taste, add more salt and pepper if desired.
• Serve immediately, garnished with fresh parmesan.

PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. Add pesto, onion, and salt and pepper. Cook about five minutes, or until onions are soft.
• In a large bowl, mix pesto mixture into pasta. Stir in grated cheese. Serve.

PASTA AL FORNO (BAKED PASTA THE ITALIAN WAY)

Steps:

• Chop the carrot, onion, garlic and celery finely.
• Fry the vegetables in olive oil until they are softening. Be careful not to allow them to burn!
• Add the minced meat and cook until browned.
• Then add the tomato concentrate and stir well
• Add the glass of wine and stir well again
• When the wine has evaporated pour in the tomato pulp and mix it in well with the meat.
• Add the basil leaves and salt and pepper as required.
• Cover the sauce and allow to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. If it gets too thick add some water.
• 15 minutes before the sauce is ready add the peas.
• Put salted water on to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes less than instructed on the packet. Strain and add the pasta to the meat sauce when it is ready.
• Mix the pasta and sauce well and allow to cool.
• Put a layer of pasta with sauce on the bottom of an oven dish.
• Make another layer with thick pieces of mozzarella.
• Add another layer of pasta with meat sauce and again some mozzarella
• Finish with a layer of pasta.
• Sprinkle with parmesan and bake in a pre-heated oven 180-200° until the top layer starts to crisp (30-40 mins)

FAZZOLETTI WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Combine the 00 and durum semolina flours, and form into a well. Add the egg yolks, water, and oil into the centre, and stir with a fork to combine.
• Form into a ball using your hands, and knead vigorously for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to your hands or the kneading surface, add 1-2 teaspoons of flour at a time; if it is too dry, add water in similar amounts.
• Transfer to an airtight container, and leave to rest for 30 minutes, away from heat or direct sunlight.
• Once your dough has rested, divide it into 4 portions, storing those that you're not working on back in the airtight container. Pass through a pasta machine on the thickest setting a few times, folding the dough over itself in between passes, before incrementally stepping it through to a thickness of 6.
• Lay out half of the pasta sheets, and scatter the edible flowers on top. Lay the other half of the sheets on top, and smooth down gently using your hands.
• Open the pasta machine back up to 4, or a similarly thick setting, and then carefully pass the paired sheets back through to laminate. Step up to a 5 and pass through again.
• Cut the laminated pasta into squares, and transfer to a lightly floured baking paper lined tray, before refrigerating uncovered. This pasta is best eaten within one day.
• To make the pesto, simply add all pesto ingredients into a mortar and pestle and work into a paste. Alternatively, blitz into a paste with a food processor or stick blender.
• Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water until al dente. The pasta should be firm but with no white showing when cut or bitten into.
• Drain and serve with a splash of olive oil, and the pesto either spread across the sheets or served on the side (we served it on the side so that you could still see the flowers!).

CHICKEN PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
• Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil, season and wrap in kitchen foil. Bake in the oven for around 15-16 minutes until cooked through. (Note that if the chicken breast is larger than specified, it may take longer to cook. A 150-200g/5½-7oz skinless chicken breast fillet will need 16-18 minutes; a 200-250g/7-9oz one 18-20 minutes; and a 250-300g/9-10½ one 20-22 minutes. If cooking more than four breasts at a time, increase the cooking time by 5 minutes, and don't forget to check that each breast is cooked through.) Alternatively you can poach the chicken - place the chicken in a pan along with the peeled onion and carrot and cover with 2.5cm/1in cold water. Bring to a simmer, add a good pinch of salt and poach for 10-15 minutes, with a lid on, until the chicken is completely cooked.
• While the chicken is cooking, make the pesto. If you are using a pestle and mortar, start by pounding the garlic and salt to a rough paste, then add the pine nuts, then basil, then oil, and pound to a consistency you like. Stir in the cheese to finish. If you are working in a food processor you can blend the garlic, salt, pine nuts, basil and oil all together, and once you have a consistency you like, stir in the cheese.
• Once the chicken is cooked, let it rest until cool enough to handle, then shred into a large mixing bowl and toss gently with the pesto.
• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, and boil the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, saving a cup of pasta cooking water. Combine the pasta with the chicken and pesto, and toss together, adding a bit of pasta water if it needs loosening. Serve.

PASTA CON PESTO SICILIANO

Steps:

• Thinly slice the eggplant and sprinkle slices with salt. Let stand for about 30 minutes and then dry eggplant on clean kitchen or paper towels.
• Heat about 1-inch of oil in a large saute pan to 350 degrees F.
• In the bowl of a food processor, chop the garlic and basil, slowly adding 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil to incorporate well. Stir in the tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes, and almonds and set aside.
• When oil is hot, fry eggplant slices, in batches, in hot oil until light golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente; drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Toss the pasta with the pesto, adding as much cooking liquid as necessary. Add fried eggplant slices and toss gently to combine. Sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs and grated cacciocavallo, if desired. Serve.
• Pasta:
• 3 cups flour "00" or fine ground semolina
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• Place the flour on the counter or in a large bowl. Stir in the salt and make a well. Beat the 3 eggs in the center of the well, and slowly incorporate all the flour. Knead until smooth and then let rest for about 30 minutes. Roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thick and then cut into desired shape.

ONE POT PESTO PASTA (WITH OVEN BAKED SHRIMP)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl add thawed shrimp. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and garlic. Toss until all the shrimp is coated.
• In a large sheet pan add shrimp in a single layer. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until cooked through (pink and opaque). Set aside.
• Pour the pasta shells (or pasta of your choice) into a deep (4.5 qt) pot.
• Add the cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Pour the broth over these ingredients and bring the liquid up to a boil over medium high heat.
• Cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes, or until the texture of the shells reaches al dente.
• Next, turn off the heat and add a heaping spoonful of pesto, heavy cream and spinach. Mix everything together while the pot is still hot - this will allow the spinach to naturally wilt without getting too soggy.
• Serve immediately in your favorite pasta bowl. Top with shrimp.

PASTA AL PESTO

Steps:

• PESTO:
• Place ingredients in bowl of food processor.
• Process until smooth, using rubber scraper to push down the sides occasionally.
• Variations: - add 3/4 c freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• PASTA:
• Boil a large pot of water; cook pasta until al dente.
• While pasta is cooking, prepare pesto; set aside, covered.
• Steam carrots.
• Meanwhile, in skillet, heat oil.
• Add zucchini and peapods.
• Stir continuously until crisp/tender.
• When pasta is done, drain well; toss pesto with noodles until they are well coated.
• Then toss in vegetables.
• Garnish with pepper and cheese.
• VARIATIONS: - add 1/2 c Parmesan cheese to Pesto