Basil Pecan Pesto

Pesto is one of those things that is super easy to make, but you just never do it. At least that what was for me until one evening my husband went to the grocery store to pick up couple of little things, and I asked him to get me basil. And I meant just a little package, to have with my tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella. He comes home with this super huge box of basil leaves... almost like the industrial size! I didn't want to waste it, so I decided to make pesto. The only nuts I had in my pantry were pecans, and I decided to use them. They gave my pesto slightly different nutty flavor, and added more richness. I liked it a lot, and made it couple more times since...
I have basil growing on my roof top deck in pretty good quantities, it's so nice to just go upstairs and pick some fresh basil whenever you need it!



So, into the food processor goes: bunch of fresh basil, garlic cloves, pecans, and cubed Parmesan cheese and some olive oil. {I do not have exact proportions for this recipe. I just kept tasting it to make sure that the taste is right.} Pulse together several times to get the ingredients pureed, adding more olive oil as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.



Toss some cooked warm pasta with it, or use it as a marinate for chicken or pork. Also great as a spread on the sandwich with tomato and fresh mozzarella... Super easy to make, holds in the fridge in a jar for 3-4 days. Substitute pecans for walnuts or other nuts...

My Favorite Pasta

Whenever I want to make a quick and easy dinner I think of this pasta dish. It's great if you cook for two or for a crowd. I've made it about thousand times and we love it every time we eat it.



It's almost like a simple meat sauce, but I spruce it up with onions, garlic, mushrooms, sometimes I add zucchini and/or yellow squash. You can serve it with thin spaghetti, fettuccine, penne, or any kind of pasta you wish.

This particular sauce I made using about a 1/2 pound of ground beef, and a package of Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage , and that makes this taste superb. I never keep proportions making this dish, it's always a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and every time comes out better than the last time. That night I used a large jar of Prego tomato sauce. Sometimes I make my own sauce by adding canned crushed or diced tomatoes and some tomato paste. This time we were starving and I always have a jar of tomato sauce in my cupboard, so whay not to use it.



So, to start I sliced a medium onion and crushed few garlic cloves, add some olive oil to the pan, heat on medium, add the onions and garlic, saute together until onions become translucent. Quarter few mushrooms, depends on your likings - I love them, so I put quite a few of them, I cpooed them roughly, to keep larger pieces. I want my sauce to have this nice, rustic feel. Add mushrooms to onions and saute together. Once done, I transfer it to a bowl and add meat to the pan. Cook the beef and sausage until done, I like the sausage without casings, but it's your preference... mix the mushroom onion mixture with meat, add tomato sauce, stirr wel to incorporate everything. I usually spice it up with a little crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper. I like to cook it all together for at least 15-20 minutes, it makes the sauce taste better, and the flavors mix in. Actually if you can make it the day ahead, it's best the next day!
You can serve it like that or you can add some heavy cream to make it more creamy, if you add creme, make sure you bring it to a boil. Check if it needs salt or pepper, season to taste. Cook your favorite pasta aldene, and serve the sauce over the pasta, sprinkled with paresan cheese and some fresh basil leaves.
Garlic bread and nice bottle of Argentinian Gascon Malbec wine would go nicely together.

Bon Apetit!

Recipe Box: Baked Orzo with Fontina Cheese

This is one of my favorite recipes from Giada de Laurentiis from the Foodnetwork. I made it several times before and I wanted to share this great side dish with everyone. It's fairly easy to make and very tasty. It could be made totally vegetarian if you substitute chicken broth for vegetable stock or even well seasoned (with salt) water. Just make sure to season the water enough, that is the only seasoning of your orzo pasta. I used this dish as a side dish with the steaks, and with grilled chicken. You can also make it as a main dish and add pieces of grilled chicken, I'm sure it would taste just great.

Here is what you need to make it:

4 cups chicken broth
1 pound orzo pasta
3 TBS butter, + more to grease baking dish
1 onion chopped
8 oz mushroom sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz (1 cup) shredded fontina cheese
4 oz (1 cup) diced fresh mozarella cheese
1 cup thawed frozen peas
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the topping we need: 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan and 1 tsp os dried thyme.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, butter 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Bring chicken broth to a boil and orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Important is not to overcook the pasta, as it still have to bake in the oven. Do not drain the orzo, just pour the whole thing into a large bowl.
Melt the butter over medium heat, add onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until mushrooms are turning golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add Marsala wine, scrape the bottom of the pan, cook until Marsala ha reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo, add cream, both cheeses, peas, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine all the ingredients. Pour into the baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the pasta. bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

Yummy....