Yep I said Pesto Pasta! I wanted to do a pasta with pesto because Whole Foods only had the giant containers of basil, so I found myself searching for a good basil recipe. After observing a few, they all lead me to this recipe I created and it was one of my top 3 dishes I have ever cooked! I also made a panko crusted chicken breast to accompany this delight!
Sun Dried Tomato Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
- 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 5-6 sun dried tomatoes (in olive oil)
- 1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Half a lemon juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Combine all into a food processor (or blender) and start processing. as it chops up slowly start adding the olive oil until it becomes more of a wet mixture. The picture above is what it looked like before I started to add the olive oil.
The Full Entree:
Ingredients
- 12-15 spears of asparagus, washed and cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 med size zucchini sliced about an inch thick
- 2 big handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, grated
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Method:
- Get the pan hot and add the olive oil. Place the zucchini in and cook on each side til slightly browned. Once you flip them the first time, add the asparagus and continue to cook for about 3 minutes.
- Then add the minced garlic and saute in the veggies til color starts to form.
- Add the spinach and cook down until slightly wilted.
- Add the Sun Dried Tomato Basil Pesto and toss lightly.
- Sprinkle with some Parmesan-Reggianno and enjoi!
The Aswell Adventure 