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Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta

January 10, 2018 By appu Leave a Comment

It’s that time of the year again, when our farm in Mahabaleshwar is thriving and blooming. The entire farm is disrupted during the monsoons, which are heavy, non stop and torrential. In fact Mahabaleshwar gets the second highest rainfall in India, next only to Cherrapunji.

Just before the rains are predicted to stop, (and these predictions never come true!), we start planting some seeds in a sheltered area. Once the rains stop, the seeds are now seedlings and can be re transplanted in pots or beds. It’s a lot of work! The soil has to be turned, aired and new top soil has to be spread. Since we plant over almost 2 acres of land, it’s a busy time for all of us.

Seeing the seedlings burst forth into vegetables and flowers is the best thrill and pure fodder for my soul. I love the city but off late ever so often I just want to vacate my senses and vegetate with the vegetation.

This year started with a wild, wild and massive bush of Basil. So much that I did not know what to do with it. I plucked them and got them back to Bombay, still pondering in my head and actually stressing over not wasting this lot. It was fragrant, the leaves heavy with taste. I decided to make Pesto and sell it to my customers.

Pesto made with fresh fragrant organic basil

I came home and experimented with a batch. It was perfect, green and luscious. I bottled it and announced the sale, and it was gone within hours! All the bottles were booked!

Over time, the green becomes pale and dark. So if you want really bright green pesto, make it on the spot and use it. Making it a day in advance allows all the flavours to steep. But if you want to use it as a dip, or in an open sandwich, then make it on the spot.

Basil grows very easily in home cultured pots. And mind you, it can grow wild. Now when you have too much Basil, and your heart is breaking at the wastage, you know what to do with it.

We were all having fondue, and one of our friends did not like the smell of the cheese. So I made Pesto Pasta for her and her husband. I do believe the plate was polished off!!! 😀

Basil Pesto mixed with pasta

I hope you enjoy making this recipe, because there is no better smell than that of, fresh basil, smooth virgin olive oil and fragrant new garlic.

Cheer!

 

 

Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta
Print Recipe
Fresh fragrant basil, made into pesto. Can be used as a dipping sauce, over sandwiches and salads, and of course made into a pasta.
  • CourseMain Course, Main Dish, Sauces and Jams
  • CuisineItalian
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta
Print Recipe
Fresh fragrant basil, made into pesto. Can be used as a dipping sauce, over sandwiches and salads, and of course made into a pasta.
  • CourseMain Course, Main Dish, Sauces and Jams
  • CuisineItalian
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Ingredients
Pesto
  • 1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves packed
  • 1/2 Cup Walnuts toasted
  • 1/4 Cup garlic Peeled
  • 1 1/2 tspn Sea Salt
  • 10 pcs Black Pepper
  • 1 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
Pasta
  • 1/2 Packet Pasta Boiled
  • 1/2 Cup Exrtra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 4/5 Cherry Tomatoes for garnishing, optional.
Servings: pax
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients of the pesto to a food processor and mix till its cohesive and no coarse pieces can be seen or felt.
  2. Put aside to use immediately or bottle in sterilised jar for future use.
Pasta
  1. Boil the pasta and keep aside
  2. Add the oil to the pan, and then add the pesto.
  3. Add the pasta and half of the parmesan cheese.
  4. Toss well and add 1/4th cup of the pasta water to the mix
  5. Toss again
  6. Serve hot garnished with the remaining parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes.
  7. Add a side of toasty garlic or plain bread with this dish.
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Filed Under: Dinner, Healthy, Lunch, Sauces Tagged With: basil, black pepper, comfort food, farm to table, fragrant, fresh, garlic, healthy, italian, organic, parmesan cheese, pasta, quikc dish, virgin olive oil, walnuts

Italian Tomato Sauce

August 13, 2016 By appu 2 Comments

 

italian tomato sauce

Apologies about the link —- this is the corrected version.

———————————————————————————————————————

I am super super excited about this recipe. It’s complicated (a little bit!) but it looked so brilliant. I saw a version of this on a cooking channel and I got up from my chair, headed to my bar, collected the vodka, (yup! It has Vodka!!) and all the ingredients and started making it, changing a little bit of the recipe here and there.

After 15 minutes into cooking, the fragrance wafting from the kitchen to the rest of the house drew many of the family members and a few neighbours into our kitchen. I tell you I am on my knees, worshipping this sauce.

It’s a thick sauce. Really thick. It’s not to be had on its own (but you might finish a lot of it while tasting it – I warn you!). You will have to mix it with some stock water, hell even mixing it in the water used to cook pasta lends it an amazing flavour.

Use it as a pizza base, as a base for Bruschetta, in a salad! Just make it, creative ideas will flow in.

I don’t want you to read all these descriptions and explanations. What I want you to do is get hold of all the ingredients and start making it. Let the family members walk in with appreciative sniffs and exclamations. Keep them waiting, and then hit them with a pasta made from this recipe. Lie back and bask in the glory!

PS: There is one very important thing that you have to follow, that’s – the instructions. There will be times while making the recipe you might think I am joking or that I have lost my mind. Have faith. I am very serious when I say what I say, and I am very sane and going to wait for your comments after you have made this recipe. You can advocate my sanity.

Without more blah blah – here is the recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce.

PS _AGAIN__and here is the link to the video —–

A shout out to my school friends who always have my back — hey there girls 🙂

Thanks to Brinda – for helping me with this video.

 

Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
  • CourseMain Course, Main Dish, Sauces and Jams
  • CuisineItalian
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
  • CourseMain Course, Main Dish, Sauces and Jams
  • CuisineItalian
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
  • 1/3 Cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbspn Butter
  • 6 garlic pods large whole pcs
  • 2 Tubes Italian Tomato Paste I used Ardita Parma Italiana - available in all stores.
  • 1 tspn brown sugar
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 150 gram cherry tomato
  • 1/2 tspn Red chilly flakes coarsely ground
  • 1 tspn salt
  • 1 tspn lemon zest
  • 45 ml vodka
  • 1/4 tspn cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbspn basil minced
  • 1 tspn Red Wine Vinegar
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat a heavy bottomed non stick pan. Add olive oil and butter. Olive oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Let the butter melt
  2. Add garlic and saute till it's a bit brown. Take out the garlic and keep it aside.
  3. Add 1 1/2 tubes of tomato paste to the hot oil/ butter mix. DO NOT STIR. I kid you not - DO NOT STIR!! Just see to it that the paste is completely submerged in the oil.
  4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes in med/ high flame.
  5. Add Brown sugar, salt and pepper. Once the bubbles subside, add the diced onions and cherry tomatoes.
  6. Now you can stir and mix. You might see a little blackened sauce when you mix. Don't worry, its normal. Ofcourse the entire bottom shouldnt be burnt. This means your pan wasn't thick enough at the bottom.
  7. Cook covered till tomatoes get squishy and cooked.
  8. Add the left over 1/2 tube of tomato paste.
  9. Add lemon zest and cayenne pepper and mix.
  10. Add the pre cooked garlic.
  11. Mix
  12. Add the vodka and mix.
  13. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Then add the basil. Cook again for 2 minutes.
  14. Add the red wine vinegar and taste!!! Voila-- you are done.
Recipe Notes

Dilute with pasta water or stock and add to pasta.

Liberally coat a salad.

Layer your pizza.

Use in baked dishes.

Use for base of crostini or bruschetta.

 

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Filed Under: Sauces Tagged With: base sauce, bruschetta sauce, italian, pizza sauce, salad, tomato sauce, vegetarian

Meet the Author

For the 21 years and some months that I have been alive, there has been this crazy, eccentric, always-charged-up woman with a full-time job of being a mother to 6 (2 children, 4 dogs).

In her spare time she blasts music on her DJ console, reads like a maniac, downloads shows (because God forbid she runs out of something to watch), runs an entire household, and to top it all off, manages a very successful catering business which makes the most delicious food in the entire world. Once you have her food, everything else will taste like stale socks.

This is what you call "Maa ke haath ka khana".

- Kanak

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