Pesto and Potato Pasta

PESTO! Yippeeee for pesto! One of my favorite tastes in the world. Tell me what's better than good parmesan cheese, basil, and garlic? Then add a little more *good* fat and nuttiness with pine nuts and olive oil...and you have the best thing that you can put on almost anything - especially pasta. When I was a little girl, my Sicilian aunts would turn out all kinds of pesto as often and as simply as other families were throwing together bologna sandwiches. There was one pesto dish that my auntie Connie used to make in particular that caught my attention: linguini with pesto and pototoes. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure of the way that she put it together, but my mom seems to think that the way that I do it is pretty close. The biggest difference witht the way that I prepare this dish, is that I use whole grain pasta which is something I never saw growing up. That's OK, I'm just letting you know. Anyway, the amazing this about this dish is that it is so delicious, and extremely simple to make. There are so few ingredients and the fact that you don't have to cook the "sauce" is very nice as well. Have fun with this one!

Ingredients
1lb whole wheat linguini (the flat and sort of wide spaghetti)
1-2 russet potatoes
2 cups fresh basil leaves (probably about 30 large leaves, stems removed)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c pine nuts
1/2 c freshly grated pecorino parmesan cheese
6 cloves fresh garlic
tsp salt to add to the water when boiling the pasta
tsp crushed red pepper
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

• Pinch basil leaves off stems, rinse and dry and set aside.
• In food processor, grate the cheese, remove and set aside.
• Rinse potatoes, cut a surface line in the center (for easy peeling), and boil until tender. Make sure they're not too tender, but you don't want them to be undone in the middle.
• Once tender, put the potatoes in cold water for few minutes. This will make it very easy to peel them.
• Peel and then rougly crumble with hands or cut in rough, uneven pieces so that they aren't too uniform. Make sure the pieces are on the smaller size. The size of a lima bean is about right. Set aside.
• Prepare the pasta according to package directions.
• While the pasta is cooking, take the raw garlic cloves and dip them in the boiling water for about a minute just to slightly soften. I don't do this to mine, because I like the intensity of the totally raw garlic. If you want that pungent, strong garlic flavor, I'd skip this step.
• To the food processor, add the basil leaves, most of the olive oil, the pine nuts and blend until all chopped very finely and mixed together. **See photo below to see what it should look like.
• Remove the mixture from the food processor and add to medium size bowl.
• To the basil mixture, add the grated cheese. Taste to make sure that the flavors are to your liking and also the consistency. If it's too dry - drizzle more olive oil. If it's too strong, add some more parmesa cheese, etc.
• Note that I don't add salt to the pesto because the cheese is so salty.
• Before the pasta is ready, make sure you have your tossing bowl ready: add about a half cup of the pesto mixure to the bottom of the bowl, with about a cup of the chopped potatoes.
• When the pasta is ready, ladle the pasta on top of the pesto and potatoes in the large bowl.
• With tongs, begin mixing everything together without 'mushing."
• Add about 1/4 cup of the pasta liquid to the bowl. This will help make everything mix well together. You can also add another splash or two of olive oil to aid in the distribution of ingredients.
• When it's ready for serving, the pasta will look a little green and the potatoes will be evenly distributed throughout the dish.
• I always end up adding additinal cheese because I like when the pasta is a little "powdery."
• Top the serving platter with freshly ground pepper and crushed red pepper.

Serving suggestion: Tonight I sauteed some chicken breast, sliced it and served over the pasta. This is a rich dish that goes great with a simple salad and good bread. A glass of wine is almost a requirement.

I hope you enjoy this one!

Below is what the pesto should look similar to. If you have a lot left over, you can freeze pesto. A good tip is to freeze in an ice cube tray. You can add cubes to many different sauces and dishes!!