Sunday, March 21, 2010

Pea Parley Pesto Pasta....Please

(Pictures to be added soon)

After a weekend spent gardening and running a gorgeous 10K, I should be finishing up the work I was too mindless to finish Friday afternoon, proofreading, oy. If it’s waited this long, why not let it sit til morning, I’m sure my boss will understand I was busy cooking and blogging.


Before my love for Martha Stewart turned into pure hate after botching batch after batch of her dainty little delicious looking cookies, I subscribed to Everyday Food. 2 months after said incident, I have finally decided to give some of her recipes a try, today’s being: Pea and Parley Pesto with Pasta (Linguine to be exact but wanted to continue with alliteration of P). So I gathered my ingredients, put on my apron, cranked up my Pandora (an entire station dedicated to the sound of Harper Valley PTA) and got to work.

After processing the Pesto ingredients in my Magic Bullet I took a big heaping spoonful and remembered what it was like to be a child of one eating that jarred mush for the first time. Man oh man did I cringe.

Pea and Parsley Pesto with Linguine: From Everyday Food
I halved this recipe because one can only eat so many leftovers, the recipe shown has not been halved

-2 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted (I didn’t see the toasted part until just now, mine weren’t toasted)
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for later
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
-1 package Linguine

1. Cook 1 cup of peas according to directions on package. In food processor, or Magic Bullet if you’re lucky enough to own one, combine cooked peas, parsley, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, and 1 tbs water (not listed in the ingredients, I assume you do have water). Pulse until a paste forms, add oil, salt, and pepper until you’re satisfied with texture and taste.

2. This is where I forgot I even had instructions to begin with, so yours will no doubt turn out that much better than mine, although mine was pretty darn good. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to direction on package, unless you’re Jeralyn from Glorified Lunch Lady and you’ve made your own pasta. Add 1 cup of peas 20 seconds before end of cooking. Drain pasta and peas reserving 1 cup water. Return pasta and peas to pot, toss ¾ cup pesto adding enough to pasta water to create a sauce that coats the pasta. Top with more Parmesan.

Eat up, remembering to pour yourself a glass of wine first.

Since I wasn’t in the mood to work or watch the boilermakers get destroyed and my bracket fall to pieces, I decided to go ahead and roast some garlic and whip up the ingredients to make pizza. Now that I’ve finally begun the art of freezing, it’s super easy to make the dough and sauce ahead of time, place it in the freezer, and have it ready for any pizza craving that may pop up.

Roasted Garlic:
- Chop heads of garlic off, sprinkle with salt, pepper, your favorite Italian seasoning and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in roasting pan and top with foil. Roast at 400 for about an hour. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. Use on toasted french bread, crackers, or eat it by the spoon. I just might.

Pizza:
- Scroll down and read previous pizza blogging. Both Megan and I have some good, easy recipes.

5 comments:

  1. Mmmm Roasted garlic is the best!!!

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  2. I didn't realize you guys were still updating this blog...I thought you had moved on to Lil' Homies' adventures. I'll have to start visiting this here blog again. Sorry for my absense.
    Sooooo I love the background by the way....and Megan, thanks for stopping by my swap-shop, looking forward to trading some "swappy seconds" with you perhaps.

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  3. Oh Nickie, we have big plans for this blog. I've got my father building a garden on my back porch. Look forward to lots of goodness.

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  4. This is an interesting take on pesto... walnuts and peas, instead of pinenuts and basil... I LIKE! Thumbs up and a smile :)

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