SPINACH AND BASIL PESTO PASTA

What is the best way to tell a friend you care? Cook them a delicious dinner after they have had a long exhausting day at work. Last night I made Spinach and Basil Pesto Pasta and took it over to a friend’s house. A delicious meal, couple glasses of wine and great company…I say it’s the perfect way to relax after a long day at work!

The Spinach and Basil Pesto Pasta can be whipped together in no time. The fresh flavors of the Spinach and Basil come together very well. I also use pesto gouda cheese instead of parmesan. I find the gouda cheese adds an amazing creaminess and flavor to the pesto unlike the parmesan cheese that adds more of a salty bite. But if you cannot find pesto gouda cheese you can use parmesan instead. Karan likes his pesto pasta with some grilled shrimp. For a vegetarian version, I add fresh baby spinach leaves or some ripe cherry tomatoes to it. Personally I like it as is.

I use fusilli or bow tie pasta because it is easy to handle and more importantly the crevices in the curly pasta allow more of the sauce for every mouthful. But you can use any kind of pasta you like. For a gluten-free version, use brown rice pasta.

One thing you want to keep in mind while making the pesto sauce is to make sure you keep it a bit chunky while blending. Over-blending will leave you with a complete paste. I have made this mistake a couple of times, especially while using a new blender. The consistency of the sauce makes a huge difference to the taste. If you make the pesto ahead of time be sure to drizzle the top with a layer of olive oil. This keeps it from turning black. The pesto also freezes very well.

Here’s how I make it.