Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Barefoot Bloggers - Pasta, Pesto and Peas




Say that three times fast. Sheesh!

I did it...I did it! I got my husband to eat veggies!!! This bi-weekly recipe from the Barefoot Bloggers was Pasta, Pesto and Peas, was chosen by Elizabeth at Ugg Smell Food. This recipe is from the Barefoot Parties cookbook.

I used whole wheat pasta, organic peas and spinach and light sour cream. And my husband ate dinner with gusto! I served the pasta with lamb tips that were already marinated with rosemary and garlic. Dinner was DELISH!!!!!!!!!





Pasta, Pesto, and Peas
Copyright, 2001, Ina Garten, All rights reserved

3/4 pound fusilli pasta (I used all fusilli whole wheat pasta)
3/4 pound bow tie pasta
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 cups pesto, packaged or see recipe below
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise (I omitted this and replaced it with 1 1/2 cups of light sour cream)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise (Again, I used Sour Cream) and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignolis, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.
Pesto:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (I am not a big fan of basil, so I substituted fresh baby spinach)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves (I used spinach), salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.
To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.
Yield: 4 cups

12 comments:

Prudy said...

The pasta looks so yummy and so do the lamb tips with rosemary and garlic. Mission accomplished if your hubby ate his veggies. I've got the same goal at my house.

Anonymous said...

Sour cream? Great idea! It gave it a nice tang, I'm sure!!

Anonymous said...

Sour cream! Great addition. Maybe if I add a little meat, my husband will try it. Mwuhahaha.

Meryl said...

I bet the sour cream was awesome--I might have to try that next time!

Christine said...

Great addition sour cream! Yummy! I have to add meat next time so my hubby will eat it! Good job!

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna try the sour cream next time .. sounds delish!

Melissa said...

Sour cream sounds like a good idea!

NKP said...

Ooh, that lamb looks soo good. What a great idea to use sour cream. Great work!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Nice job on the recipe--I thought about using whole wheat pasta but didn't. Sour cream is a good idea too--wonder how yogurt would work?!

Megan said...

Next time, sour cream. Great idea. I loved how easy it was to sneak in spinich. Great recipe!

Anonymous said...

great job on getting hubby to eat his veggies! it was nice being able to sneak the spinach into the pesto mixture and not really even know it was there. :)

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