Baking, not banking!: pesto

Showing posts with label pesto. Show all posts

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Avocado Pesto Pasta!

I was browsing through my new favorite blog, Gimme Some Oven, and found a recipe for Avocado Pesto Pasta that I knew I had to make soooon. Avocados, basil, whole wheat pasta, and toasty pine nuts? Sold. Throw in some creamy spinach and Parmesan shavings and Friday night dinner is looking pretty good.

All the pesto ingredients in the food processor: avocados, lemon juice, basil, pine nuts, walnuts, salt & pepper, garlic, and olive oil to be added.

Boiling pasta, sauteing spinach, toasting pine nuts ...

Gorgeous bright green pesto.... There is nothing as lovely as the color and smell of homemade pesto! I love the color of the avocados in this too. Topped with toasted pine nuts ... for that added crunch factor!

Summer 2020:

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Pesto, Spinach, and Mushrooms!

Thanks to so much Italian in my life, I've discovered a late-blooming love for spinach and mushrooms. I liked them before just fine, but now find myself absolutely devoted. Pesto has always been a favorite of mine, but only homemade! Store-bought pesto is atrocious. I'm also really into whole wheat pasta, more and more. The color is pleasing (as well as natural!) and tends to have more of a bite to it, something I appreciate as a total al dente fan. Last night I made a simple pesto (basil, pine nuts, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, Parmesan, salt, pepper) and tossed it with whole wheat mini shells (conchiglie). I sauteed sliced white mushrooms in butter and olive oil until tender and wilted a big bunch of fresh spinach with it. I mixed everything together, sprinkled Parmesan on top, and voilà! Dinner is served :)

Made on 03/19/2012.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Pizza, Chili and Chocolate Cupcakes!

I LOVE making pizza. Once you have a staple pizza crust recipe, making pizza inevitably becomes one of the easiest and most versatile dishes to whip up in very little time. I'm going to Spain and Portugal at the end of this week so I was on a mission to cook and bake with the intention of using up plenty of my fridge/freezer items. With an abundance of cheeses (ricotta, mascarpone, parmiggiano, mozzarella) and some leftover pesto, I made a simple and satisfying lunch. My favorite go-to recipe is definitely Katie's pizza crust!

Pizza con Pesto e Quattro Formaggi! I think naming it in Italian sounds so much better, don't you? ;) I was very happy to successfully use my new clay pizza stone too!

Made on 02/12/12.

Here it is, in all it's four cheese bubbly goodness.

Next up I decided to attempt chili from AmyBites which never lets me down with her awesome and healthy recipe recommendations!

Variations: I used ground beef instead of turkey, and made the dish on the stove instead of in the slow-cooker, letting it cook at low-heat for a total of 2 1/2 hours. I didn't add any chili powder or cayenne since the flavor from the stewed tomatoes (which already had spices) was delicious enough on it's own!

Chili!
Made on 02/12/12.

Top with a scoop of low-fat sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Last but not least, double chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone and cream cheese frosting! These were made for a special friend of mine's birthday and since her birthday is also on Valentine's Day, I topped them with some little cinnamon candy hearts! :)

Chocolate and Mascarpone Cupcakes!

Made on 02/12/12.

Chocolatey deliciousness!