Homemade Pesto Rotini
Hi there!
I am back after nearly a year MIA on this blog! Life has been busy - I recently started a new job, moved into a new apartment in a new city, and all the work leading up to that has kept me from blogging some of my cooking seriously. And honestly, after not doing it for a while, I just felt lazy to start blogging again.
But a few weeks ago, I bing-watched the entire Master Chef season 8 and remembered how much I wanted to compete in MasterChef. Maybe I will one day :). Then last weekend, I visited Salt Lake City, where I lived the last 2 years, to see some of my friends. They reminded me of how much I loved to cook and shared my food with others. So I decided that I will start blogging again and share the love for food virtually, until I can open my own restaurant!
For the first returning post, I will start small. This pasta dish is super quick and simple but tastes amazing!
Thanks to Sam for the vegetarian inspiration and Erich Hohenstein for the pesto inspiration!
Pesto Rotini with Grilled Mushrooms
Ingredients (1 serving):
- Roasted almond, smoked, salted: 1/2 cup
- Basil leaves, no stems: 2 cup
- Grated garlic: 1/2 tbsp
- Extra-virgin olive oil: 1/2 cup
- Grated parmesan romano cheese: 1/4 cups
- Tri-color rotini or regular rotini: 1 cup
- Baby bella mushrooms: 1 cup
- Paprika: 1/2 tsp
- Crushed chili pepper: 1/2 tsp
- Ginger powder: 1/2 tsp
- Sesame oil: 1/2 tsp
- Salt and Pepper
Preparation:
Pesto sauce:
1. Wash the basil leaves
2. In a food processor, add in the almond, basil, garlic, and half of the paprika and crush chili pepper (1/4 tsp of each). Process until finely minced. Add the olive oil gradually as you process the mixture. Add salt and pepper, season to taste.
3. Mix in the cheese afterwards.
Pasta:
1. Bring a full pot of water (honestly, I don't measure this). Just make sure the water height is 4-5x that of the pasta when you put them in the pot.
2. Salt boiling water and stir in the pasta. I added in vegetable seasoning as well (oh I was also attempting to be vegetarian for a day).
3. Boil for 11 minutes & stir every 2 - 3 minutes until "al dente", aka firm but tender (I am trying to sound MasterChef-like :-)). Drain the water.
Mushroom:
1. Toast the mushrooms in the remaining paprika and crushed chili pepper, ginger powder, and sesame oil.
2. Grill the mushrooms for 2 minutes on each side. I just pan-seared them in a cast iron skillet to get the same crispy texture.
Mix the pasta, mushrooms, and your desired amount of pesto sauce. And you are done! Enjoy this easy meal for a week-day dinner or to prep for lunch!