Walnut Pesto Pasta

The other day I was wandering through the produce section at our local market, and stumbled upon “fresh basil”. It was gorgeous and the scent was intoxicating. I almost believe that fresh herbs can elevate anything and everything. They can rejuvenate a boring recipe with just few chops. Since I was dreadful of missing my flavors that I had experienced in Naples, Italy, I decided that the best thing was to use fresh basil, instead of the dried version.

 There was something about enjoying food in Italy…the amore song, juicy cherry tomatoes and garden fresh basil leaves with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. We are now very careful in selecting the type of restaurant that we go to, as we make sure that kids would have something to eat. But our trip to Europe was at a time when we didn't have kids – so we were able to try and enjoy all types of restaurant and food – from street vendors to fast food to fine dining.

Since my husband and I are big time foodies, we wanted to recreate those good moments spent in Italy. 

         

For those of you unfamiliar with pesto, it is an uncooked sauce made of basil, Parmesan, olive oil and pine nuts. It perfectly showcases ever-abundant summer basil, is extremely flavorful and quick to make and best of all, it just requires a quick mix in the food processor-no heat needed. It is traditionally served over pasta or a spread on toasted bread as an appetizer. The traditional pesto recipe uses pine nuts, but since my family loves walnuts, I added it as a substitute.

I think you guys are going to LOVE this pasta. It’s

Super Flavorful

Savory

Fresh

Simple

Satisfying

Eat it hot, eat it cold or eat it lukewarm-It’s still delicious. This makes perfect for picnic and road trips.

Enjoy with this song as we did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69O4PXzAQ5Y.    

So here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta	200 grams
Olive oil	2 Tbsps.
Cherry tomatoes halved	10
Salt	To Taste
Crushed red chilies	½ Tsp.
Milk	1 Cup
Walnuts Crushed	8-10
Basil leaves	¼ Cup
Garlic cloves	3-4
Parmesan cheese	4 Tbsps.

Method:

Mix basil, olive oil, walnuts, garlic, salt and parmesan cheese in a food processor.

 Mix until it is thoroughly combined into a fine puree. Add parmesan cheese and blend for 5-10 more seconds. Now you have your pesto ready. Transfer the pesto to a large bowl using a spatula.

Take a medium pot, and add water and salt. Bring it to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain the pasta and add some olive oil to prevent sticking to each other.

 In another nonstick pan, add olive oil, cherry tomatoes and salt.

Cook the tomatoes on low flame with a lid until they become soft.

Once the tomatoes have becomes soft, add walnut, pesto and crushed red chilies.

Next add the cooked pasta and toss them well until the pasta gets a nice pesto coat.

Add milk and cook for 3-4 minutes.

 Switch off the flame and add remaining parmesan cheese.