Pesto, Mushroom & Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta - 1 - $ - V

Tomorrow is a very special day because my friend Wonder Matt is flying down from Brisvegas, just for the day, to celebrate his 40th birthday! How rock'n'roll is that! What he doesn't know is that we are going to kidnap him and his lovely lady and never let them leave the state again, so shhhhhhh.

Due to celebration shenanigans I have the day off tomorrow, so I left work quite late tonight after clearing the decks to ensure smooth sailing for those that will be in. Short on time, I had to come up with something toot sweet for dinner while driving home. I devised this super quick, slightly cheating pasta (it won't be cheating if you use homemade pesto) that literally took 15 minutes from pot to plate. Too easy!

Happy Birthday Wonder Matt!

Ingredients

Pasta - enough for enough of you
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
mushrooms
Kalamata olives
pesto
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 200C degrees and pop the water on to boil for the pasta.
Put the tomatoes in a baking dish, give a tiny spray with olive oil and place in the oven while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Slice the mushrooms and sautee in a bit of the pesto.
Cook the past according the packet directions and then drain and put back in the pot you cooked it in.
Stir through the mushrooms, olives and as much or as little pesto as you fancy.
Divide the pasta between the bowls, top with the cherry tomatoes and shave on some Parmesan.

Enjoy!

This Weekend Why Don't You...

:: Make a POT of tea?

:: Plant some herbs in your garden?

:: Bake a cake from scratch? No packet mixes please, maybe our Tunisian Orange Cake?

:: Visit or make a reservation at that cafe/restaurant/bar you've been meaning to check out for ages?

:: Stay in and cook for some friends?

:: Visit Kiva and lend a budding entrepreneur some money to open their own restaurant in a developing community?

:: Have a go at making that recipe that seems really tricky and will take ages?

:: Bake bread?

:: Drive to the country and eat some scones and jam?

:: Make someone breakfast in bed (getting up first and going to get the papers, the coffee and the croissants absolutely counts)

:: Make some pesto with the recipe below?

Pesto Ingredients

2 Bunches fresh basil
50gm toasted pine nuts (see below)
1-3 Cloves garlic (this really is to taste)
125gm grated Parmesan cheese
200ml olive oil

First, to toast the pine nuts, pop them on baking paper lined tray in a hot oven for about 5 minutes, or until they are golden and smell delicious. Alternatively you can dry fry them in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, but don't turn your back on them, they will burn in an instant!
Put all the ingredients except oil in a food processor and whizz until smooth. Stream in the olive oil slowly until nice and combined. Take the lid off the processor, put your nose really close to the bowl and take a big whiff - yum! If you aren't going to use it all in one go it will keep in a jar in the fridge for about 5 days, so pour a little bit of oil on the top to make a seal and it won't dry out.

Have a great weekend everyone - enjoy!