creamy pesto pasta!
May 7, 2011 § Leave a Comment
So yesterday, with my bargain purchase of sun-dried tomatoes, I made up a batch of red pesto. One of the best things to do with pesto is swirl it round your favourite pasta for a quick and easy supper. I’m not that much of a fan of creamy pasta sauces, I prefer tomato based ones. But this is one of husband’s favourites, so this is what I cooked.
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. You’re not here to listen to me waffle and drone about the domestic disagreements we have along the lines of cream versus tomato, veggie versus bacon, you’re here to find out what I did with that pesto. Aren’t you? Good. So this is what I did…
The first thing I did was to fry off some nice smoked pancetta. Here it is as I added it to the dry pan on a high heat. Why a dry pan? There’s lots of fat on those little bad boys to render out as it is, I don’t need to be over egging any pudding [?!] by adding more oil…
You could use some smoked rashers, or unsmoked if you prefer. Or you could leave it out completely if you want to turn it into a vegetarian dish. There’s no hard and fast rules.
While that was doing its thing, I chopped up some sweet little cherry tomatoes…
…got some shavings of parmigiano…
…and put some pasta on to cook in salted water. I used ready-made organic whole wheat spaghetti, but you have the choice of spaghetti, fusilli, linguine, farfalle, tagliatelle, orecchiette, penne, pappardelle, whatever you prefer. Or maybe you make your own! Now, hold tight and standby for the obligatory shot of something boiling!
[Ok, so not really boiling, more of a gentle simmer at that point ]
Now, the sauce!! When I tell you this is easy, you probably won’t believe me. Well it is. Remember that pesto? Well mix it with some low-fat crème fraiche, and… well…. that’s it.
No wait – I forgot a bit – the crème fraiche that I had was a bit thick, so I gently heated it in a non stick pan. Some brands of crème fraiche have the consistency of runny yoghurt and only need stirring rather than melting. I’ll leave it up to you to assess the viscosity of your crème fraiche though. So into the melty creamy tomato goodness I tossed the drained spaghetti, the cherry tomatoes, some torn basil leaves, and the by-now-crispy pancetta…
…and it’s done! Once it’s all heated through and on plates, I garnished with the parmigiano….
…and tucked in!! 
