Pesto pasta salad

BBQ 2!! Happy 4th of July! Our friend Christine hosted today's festivities at a local hillside park with a view of the ocean and the fireworks. We decided to use our leftover basil and bring pesto pasta salad. OMG, we had to taste test, obviously, and it is delicious. Again, pretty light flavor - good for eating outside. I like this recipe because it is not too much garlic and not too much basil. Well balanced.

The leftover sauce is delicious on bread. We are considering using it on a pizza tomorrow. Yum.

Pesto
2 cloves garlic
1/3 c pine nuts, or walnuts or the two mixed
2 c basil leaves, packed
3/4 c olive oil
1/2 c parmesan, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Pasta
1 lb pasta, I used elbow macaroni and a little bit of rotini spiral
2 tbsp olive oil

Pesto, from above
1 bag spinach - saute and cool
1 tbsp lemon juice

10 oz package sliced grape tomatoes- probably 1 1/2 c
1/3 c pine nuts and walnuts mixed
1/2 c parmesan
1/4 tsp pepper

Make pesto:
Put garlic, pine nuts in food processor, puree. Add basil, salt, and pepper to processor. With processor running, add olive oil in through feed tube. Process until thoroughly pureed. Add parm and puree for an additional minute. Leave in processor.

Boil pasta, drain, add olive oil so it won't stick together. Cool.

Sauté spinach in olive oil. Cool.

Add spinach, lemon juice to pesto and puree. Add mixture to cooled pasta with parmesan, nuts, pepper, and tomatoes.

Scallop Ravioli

We made home made pasta that we turned into scallop ravioli a few weeks ago. It was an epic journey that we almost died of hunger during, but we came out the other end stronger for it.

I don't have the recipe here, but I just could not resist putting up the picture. :)

Pizza!

Pizza

I have a new pizza crust recipe that is the best ever. 


1 packet yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 C lukewarm water

3 1/2 C flour

2 tbsp gluten flour

1/2 tbsp salt

Mix yeast, sugar, olive oil, and water. Let sit 5 minutes.
Mix flour and salt. make well in center. Pour liquids into dry. Mix well, kneed into dough.


Add floured dough into floured bowl, cover with damp towel. Let sit in warm place for 1 hour.

I split the dough in two and rolled them out onto two cookie sheets. JP added a couple ladels of my homemade red sauce (from Lasagna recipe) on each, 4 oz shredded parmesan cheese, toppings, then 4 oz mozzarella.

I used prosciutto, sliced tomatoes, chopped basil, and thinly sliced white onion on the first pizza. JP used chopped spinach, a LOT of fresh garlic, thinly sliced white onion, and sliced tomatoes on the second.

Bake at 475 for 15 mins.

Vegetarian Lasagna

LASAGNA

A meal which is requested over and over and over in the Townsend Poole home. One of our FAVORITE meals.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make it without meat and something amazing happened.

This lasagna is all veges (...and a touch of cheese) and oh oh oh so good.

1. Tomato sauce

1 28oz can whole tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp italian parsley - chopped fine

20 leaves basil - chopped fine

2 tbsp celery leaves - chopped fine

4 cloves garlic

salt/pepper/marjaram/oregano/red pepper to taste (approx 1/4 tsp ea.)

3 tbsp chopped procuito

1/4 cup red wine

Place all ingredients into medium sauce pan. Simmer with a slight boil for 45-60 mins.

2. Veges:

1 bunch spinach - trim off stems and rinse. Dry with paper towel.

1 lg yellow squash - sliced into rounds

1/2 zucchini - sliced into rounds

8-10 brown mushrooms - chopped

1/2 white onion - chopped

3 roma tomatoes

Saute mushrooms and onion together with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Saute squash and zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Saute spinach with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Slice tomatoes. Set aside

3. Beschemel

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour
1 c milk

1 c grated Fontina cheese ( I also used Havarti once and it was good too)

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper and hot pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

4. Cheese

10 oz fresh mozzarella

Slice. Set aside.

5. Assemble

Butter 8x8 or 9x9 square glass dish. Layer ingredients into pan:

1. Cover bottom of pan with red sauce to keep noodles from sticking.

2. Noodles - I used no boil noodles.

3. Veges - mushroom, onion, spinach, tomatoes, squash

4. Cheese

5. Red sauce

6. Noodles

7. Another layer veges, sauce and cheese

8. Noodles

9. last of red sauce and cheese on top

Cover. Bake at 375 for 50 min. Remove cover, broil 5 mins until cheese is browned.