Pesto Pasta

I introduced pesto to my daughter before she was walking. She loved it then (in her hair, mostly), and still loves it to this day. We eat a LOT of garlic in this house; I'm a firm believer in garlic keeping illness and vampires at bay, and pretty much all my favorite things to make involve garlic on some level. I've even dabbled in black garlic, but it's really not an every day kind of thing.

When I was younger and more energetic I made my own pesto, but since finding a variety in the grocery that we both really like, screw that. I've done things with marinating chicken in it, or using it in tapas, but we always come back to a simple cream sauce that is fabulous with gnocchi or pasta. I'll post on gnocchi the next time we make it (the kid knows how to do it herself now!), but you will probably never see me post about homemade pasta; that's something else I already tried when I was young and energetic. Since I don't really like pasta (rice and potatoes, remember), I really don't care about homemade pasta. The fresh stuff you can buy in the cooler/deli section is great, when you feel fancy, or I've got an amazing local shop that cuts it for you right there in front of you. It's a LOT of work to make it, even with a Kitchen Aid attachment.

So if you want tasty but REALLY quick and easy, get some fresh pasta. The kid likes penne, spaghettini, and fettuccine noodles; I like mini lasagna and cavatappi, but those are way too heavy for this; they’re great in homemade Macaroni & Cheese. You need something light for this light sauce. Gnocchi is good because the little ridges like to hold onto the pesto bits, and if it's homemade gnocchi it's soft and pillowy. We had a little fresh (frozen) pasta left from our last visit to our pasta shop, so we used that.
The sauce is two ingredients; jarred pesto (we like Classico's Basil Pesto), and milk or cream. Heat half a jar of pesto in a saute pan; add a cup or so of dairy; stir til heated through. Cook noodles according to package (or just a scarce minute or two if fresh); add to sauce. Swirl to combine. Done.

Ideally you'd serve this with a chiffonade of basil and a hearty grating of parm-reg cheese. Chiffonade is a great word - it just means to stack up the fresh basil leaves, roll them up, and cut them. Ta-da, you are fancy! If you feel like you need more protein, add some cooked chicken, I don't care. That’s what the kid did this time, since we still had some leftover totally bland rotisserie chicken. We also make it with shrimp, just the plain ol' tail-on uncooked frozen kind, and it's freaking delicious. If you do that, saute some minced garlic and parsley in butter first; add the clean/shelled shrimp and cook til pink, then add the pesto etc. Sometimes if I have a fresh local tomato lying around I'll dice that, salt & pepper the chunks, and toss those on top. Get a little crazy. Got some canned artichoke hearts? Toss those in, too. You are the boss of your kitchen. Serve it with a nice warm Italian crusty bread and a side salad. Just kidding, you're a normal person, not someone on a cooking show; just serve it as-is and hope for the best, or if you're me, reach for those trusty frozen peas again. Ok, now I'm actually making the effort to try and think of a reasonable side dish since I am, in fact, trying to be helpful, and I'm having a hard time deciding what WOULD go well with these flavors other than bread/salad. Everything I can think of sounds awful, other than just a simple tomato salad. Anyhow, if your family actually enjoys it and will eat leftovers, just add a little extra milk before re-heating it the next day so it doesn't go all gluey and gross.

Other recipes you're going to see will tell you to start with butter and heavy cream, but you really don't need them, and trust me - I LOVE adding extra calories. The pesto already has oil in it, so it's going to want to heat up nicely for you, and there's so much flavor you don't really miss the additional fat. And if you only ever make it my way, you won't feel like you're missing out, so do the right thing. Fresh cracked pepper on top and serve.