Pasta, pesto, and pea-ness
Internet, if you thought my baking week couldn’t get any weirder than the catfish cake, you would have been right. Until yesterday. That’s when I spent the day on a cake designed to look like a 2 1/2-foot male member as the final project for my Wilton Fondant and Gumpaste class.
Kidding! Or am I?
No, the cake was a special order for a client’s birthday.
So, I’m finishing this cake when I remember the deadline for the Barefoot Bloggers‘ first official assignment: Pasta, Pesto, and Peas.
I was in luck, because most of the ingredients are house staples: pasta, olive oil, mayo, garlic, spinach, peas. I picked what basil I could from the plants in the backyard (grow, babies, grow!) and made due with the pasta we had–a mixed bag of interesting shapes and unfortunate colors.
While the pasta boiled, I made the pesto (the smell!) and started prepping the other ingredients. I didn’t bother measuring the mayo–just used what was left in the jar. Ina’s recipe calls for defrosted spinach, but we had just the right amount of fresh, so I used it instead.
Even with the recipe cut in half, there was enough pasta salad to feed Lower Guam.
The entire recipe takes about 20 minutes. Plenty of time to grill some chicken, get the drinks on the table, and take a call from your grandmother asking if your cake is circumcised.
Bon appetit!
Pasta, Pesto, and Peas
Copyright 2001, Ina Garten
- 3/4 pound fusilli pasta
- 3/4 pound bowtie pasta
- 1/4 cup good olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups pesto, see recipe below
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta, and then add the Parmesan, peas, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve it at room temperature.
Pesto
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Place the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
Hysterical! It did make an awful lot…but it was super tasty!
I used fresh spinach too. Looks great!
I always love reading your posts, so funny! Your pasta looks yummy!
Looking forward to the next post! ;)
Love the photo of the salad!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog
I love the presentation, and the different pasta shapes!
yum! Great job! Catfish cake and a male …ahem… member cake? my my….what an interesting week!
I am not embarrassed to admit that I hope you post pictures of that cake.
Love the picture–how nice and bright green!!! I halved it too and was amazed at how much there was!
Your salad looks so fresh and green and delicious!
Yey, pine nuts!
And yes please, post the pictures of that cake (I’m French, so it’s ok for me to be rude).
Looks very yummy!
Loved the pasta but I want to see the cake too!
I’m leaving you a blog award on my blog tomorrow. Come on by.
btw, i tagged you on my blog, check it out…i want to hear more about you!!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog
My wee basil plant has risen from the dead and actually looks GOOD (imagine that, what with my black thumb and all). So, I might just pluck a bit and whip this up. Pesto …. mMMMMMMMMmmmmmm!
Great looking Ina gig…love the Ina. I think I have made every single recipe in every single book. Her portions are huge…I have learned to scale them down…loved the Lower Guam comment.
You are too funny…love your cooking, but I wouldn’t miss the humor for the world!
I love pesto.
That looks great!
So where’s a picture of the penis cake?
I want to see the cake too.
Lovely green pp&p, so vibrant and verdant.
After eating it for 3 days, hubs and I sent our pp&p leftovers home with my unsuspecting mother. Next time we halve the recipe.
Now about that cake…..