The beauty of pesto is that it’s simple to make: Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and hit pulse.
Within a minute or so, you have this terrific-tasting condiment/sauce with many uses, such as dressing a bowl of pasta.
You can simply add the pesto alone or gussy it up like we do today with tomatoes, cheese and olives.
Best of all, this recipe comes together in 30 minutes.
Penne With Pesto, Tomatoes and Olives
Serves: 4 (as a main dish); Preparation time: 15 minutes; Total time: 30 minutes
2 cups tightly packed basil leaves
2 cloves peeled garlic, toasted if desired
Sea salt to taste
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 to 7 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces penne or other short pasta
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, quartered
1/2 to 3/4 cup pearl or cherry-size fresh mozzarella
Black pepper to taste
Basil sprigs
Process the basil, garlic, salt, walnuts and Parmesan until the leaves are coarsely chopped. With the machine running, add about 6 tablespoons olive oil (more as needed) until the mixture is smooth but still more paste than sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
