Monday, March 02, 2009

Pioneer Woman wannabe...

I got a new lens for my camera and fancied I might become the next PW, lol. Here's a family favorite:

Pesto Tortellini


Gather your ingredients. Fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and freshly grated parmesan cheese. When we lived in Michigan, I had a lovely vegetable garden, with several potted herbs scattered around on the back porch. Mmmm, fresh basil just outside my back door! Currently, I pick it up in those little plastic containers at the grocery store, but I am longing to get back to having a never-ending supply (and not paying almost $4 for that little box of basil!)



I use about 1 1/2 containers of fresh basil leaves for my family of 8. This is approximately two cups of loosely packed leaves. Don't forget to discard the big stems.


Place your basil leaves in a food processor or blender and add a pinch of salt, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), about 1/4 cup of pine nuts (lightly toasted in a dry skillet really brings out the flavor!), 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup fresh parmesan.



Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add another 1/4 cup olive oil while processing. More can be added if you prefer a thinner sauce. I like mine thick!


Pour over hot tortellini, stir to mix, serve with a side of freshly grated parmesan and enjoy! 6 of 8 Wilwands love this (including picky Max), 1 Wilwand will eat it (because she doesn't really like parmesan) and only 1 abstains (that would be Mason.)

1 comments:

Lee said...

You are a GREAT Pioneer Woman wannabe :) Maybe my kids would eat pesto - if it had no basil or pine nuts. Good for you!