Garden Pasta

This summer my mom has been testing out her green thumb and had some major success! She's grown beautiful Roma tomatoes and a giant basil plant. I was lucky enough to receive my own supply of basil on my last trip home! Watching my mom whip up fresh tomato basil pasta, pesto, and summer pasta sauce from her homegrown ingredients inspired me to try my hand at garden cooking. Since I only had freshly grown basil on hand, I decided to head over to Chicago French Market to get the rest of my ingredients. 

The market opened last December in the Loop and has tons of fresh, organic vegetables and meat. They also have some great food stalls filled with local vendors that offer lunch options, pastries, and great cheeses. I walked away with organic tomatoes, pine nuts, and reasonably priced shrimp that was peeled and deveined. (Less work for me!) I also made a stop at the Pastoral Artisan Cheese stall and picked up some wonderful Pecorino Romano. The man who helped me said it was saltier than Parmesan, but is wonderful for grating and when used in recipes. Overall, I would consider my trip to the French Market a success! I headed home and set-off on my mission to make homemade pesto.

 I started by cleaning my basil and chopping off some of the longer stems. I figured I had about 2 cups of packed basil to work with and had no clue how much pesto I would end up with.

I knew I needed pine nuts, garlic, onion, cheese, and olive oil to complete my pesto, but had no clue how much of each ingredient. Barefoot Contessa had the answer: I just scaled her recipe and adjusted it for the ingredients I wanted to use.

The next step was toasting the pine nuts. This is apparently one of the KEY steps to delicious pesto, but proved to be the hardest for me. Mine ended up charred, but www.bonappetit.com has a helpful "how to" for next time. I'll have to make sure to shake the skillet more frequently next time. I'll also have to remember to take some pics of the process.

Once all my FRESH ingredients were ready to go I broke out my trusty Magic Bullet as a food processor substitute. I added 2 cups of packed basil, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, 1/4 cup chopped red onion, and and 1/4 cup of my burned pine nuts to the bullet.

I blended those ingredients for 20-30 seconds, then added 1/4 cup olive oil (you can mess around with this measurement) and 1/4 of my grated cheese. I blended until I had a nice puree and added about 1 tsp of pepper to adjust the taste.

With the pesto completed I began preparing 1/2 pound of fusilli pasta. I just used whatever pasta I had on hand, but usually when I cook shrimp I like to use linguine.

I heated about 2 T of oil in a skillet on medium heat. I added my 10 scrimps (aka shrimp), peppered them, and brushed them with about 1 T of pesto. Scrimps always cook much faster than I expect and taste kind of chewy when they are over done. I try to cook them for 1-3 minutes a side depending on the size. You know they are done when they turn pink and are overdone when they shrivel up really small. Shrimp are a great way to change up your weekly menu and can be added to any quick meal!

Once the pasta cooks, I strain it and return it to the pot. I added 2 T of my fresh pesto and tossed into the pasta. This alone would be an easy, delicious weeknight meal with some left over chicken!

Since I was making a little lunch for myself; I just added some pasta, four shrimp, a handful of chopped Roma tomatoes, and some grated cheese to a bowl. The rest will make great lunch or dinner leftovers some other day this week. The fresh basil really stood out in the pesto and the tomatoes I got at the French Market were fabulous. If I had my own outdoor space I'd be makign garden fresh meals everyday.

Homemade Pesto

Prep Time: 10 mins     Cook Time:   5 mins         Recipe Yields: 1-2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan (I used Pecorino Romano)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion

Directions

1. Toast pine nuts in a small frying pan.
2. Chop onion and garlic.
3. Grate cheese.
4. Add all the dry ingredients to a food processor for 20-30 seconds. Add olive oil and blend until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. 

Pesto Shrimp Pasta

Prep Time: 10 mins          Cook Time: 15 mins           Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 lbs pasta
• 8-10 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 T olive oil
• Pepper to taste
• 3 T pesto
• 1/4 c shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 2 Roma tomatoes (chopped)

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot and cook pasta as instructed.
2. Season shrimp with pepper and then toss with 1 T pesto.
3. Heat olive oil on medium in a skillet, when hot add shrimp. Cook shrimp until pink. (1-2 minutes per side)
4. Drain pasta and return to a large bowl.
5. Add 2 T of pesto and toss in the pasta.
6. Add chopped tomatoes to the pasta and toss again.
7. Top with cooked shrimp and sprinkle with cheese.