Penne with Rocket and Basil Pesto, Avocado, and Tomatoes

I always seem to have tomatoes and avocado in the fridge and this is my go to dinner when I want something light and fresh. I don't cook the tomatoes or avocado, just throw everything together at the end grate on plenty of parmesan cheese.

I had a huge bag of rocket left over from Christmas and a small basil plant in the garden so that's what I used but you could switch up the herbs to suit your taste. Save yourself some time and blitz up a batch of pesto, use one portion, and freeze the rest for another night.

Rocket and Basil Pesto

140 grams rocket
15 grams basil
90 grams Pinenuts, lightly toasted
60 grams parmesan cheese
30 grams lemon juice, from 1/2 lemon
35 grams olive oil
10 grams olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper, to taste

Pasta

Penne or dried pasta of your choice, cooked according to packet directions

Tomatoes, roughly chopped

Avocado, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped

Parmesan cheese, grated

Pesto

Put all pesto ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend for 5 seconds / speed 6.

Scrape down sides of bowl and blend further 15 seconds / speed 6. 

Add more lemon juice, olive oil or pepper to adjust consistency and flavour according to taste. 

Tips

For variations, combine rocket with other herbs, e.g. parsley, coriander or basil.

If you have leftovers pour some oil over the top and freeze it or use within a few days on salmon, chicken or scrambled eggs.

Rocket and Basil Pesto Recipe on Recipe Community website

Pasta with the lot

Why should only pizza get to have all the toppings when pasta tastes great with everything as well? Why not give your spag bol a makeover and clean out your veggie crisper with this delicious pasta dish.



1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp crushed chilli
1 kg premium beef mince
400g mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1/2 green capsicum, diced
1/2 yellow capsicum, diced
1 carrot, diced
4 Tbsp Sacla Olive and Tomato Pasta Sauce (or pesto)
1 jar Bolognese Pasta Sauce of your choice
400g tin whole tomatoes
10 Kalamata olives, pitted
1/4 cup red wine
pasta of your choice, cooked
parmesan cheese, to serve

Heat large saucepan over med-high heat and add oil. Sauté onions with garlic and chilli until soft.
Add mince and cook, breaking up large pieces, until cooked through.
Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add all remaining ingredients except pasta and simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes.
Stir through cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Serves 6

Minestrone

This recipe can serve 4-6 but to keep the calories down you would probably want to stretch it to 6 by adding more water with the stock cubes. If you want to reduce the calorie count you may want to look for the lowest calorie bacon and four bean mix.

I usually use green cabbage but I thought that I would try red cabbage this time. But it coloured the soup and had a different flavour so I would recommend sticking to green cabbage..

4 rashers of bacon, diced
1 brown onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 small cabbage, shredded
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 tin four bean mix, drained and rinsed
1 tin Cannellini beans (white beans), drained and rinsed
1L beef stock
1 cup dried pasta (spirals or shells)
cracked black pepper
grated Parmesan cheese to serve

Heat oil in a deep saucepan. Cook bacon, onion and garlic until onion is soft.
Add carrot, zucchini and cabbage. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, four bean mix, cannellini beans and beef stock and stir well.
Add pasta and crack some black pepper over the top and simmer until pasta is cooked.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Total: 1767 cal / 7380 kj

Per Serve (if serving 6): 294 cal / 1230 kj

Pesto Pasta Salad

This quick and easy salad is a great accompaniment to BBQ meat. I made this tonight to go with my Beef Rissoles but there is plenty left over for lunch tomorrow. Adjust the amount of vegetables and pesto to suit your taste and what you have in the fridge.



Preparation Time 20 minutes
Cooking Time 10 minutes

150g green beans, topped, cut into 5cm lengths
150g snow peas, sliced diagonally
100g broccoli, separated into small florets
375g dried small penne pasta
250g (1 punnet) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 zucchini, thinly sliced crossways
100g red capsicum, thickly diced
3-4 Tbs basil pesto

Cook beans, snow peas and broccoli in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender crisp. Use slotted spoon to remove from pan and refresh under cold running water. Bring water back to the boil. Cook pasta in boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain and rinse well under cold water. Drain well. Place in a large serving bowl.

Stir pesto through pasta. Add the beans, snow peas, broccoli, tomatoes and zucchini to the pasta and toss gently until well combined.

Serves 4

Minestone Soup

I've got some Italian Style Soup Mix that I need to use up so I'm going to try this out:
http://www.mckenziesfoods.com.au/recipe/9/Minestrone_Soup

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 90 mins

1 cup McKenzie's Italian Style Soup Mix
Salt & Pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan for serving
4 tablespoons parsley finely chopped
10-12 cups water
1 cup small pasta
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
500g bacon bones or 1 x small smoked ham hock
800g tinned crushed tomatoes
200g tomato paste
2 cups cabbage finely shredded
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 large onion finely diced
2 celery sticks finely diced
2 carrots finely diced

Combine all ingredients except pasta, parsley and parmesan in a large pot. Cover and simmer for 1 to 1 and a half hours or until beans are tender. Add the pasta and simmer for a further 15 mintues. Add more water if necessary.
Discard bones, if ham hock is used remove from soup - remove skin and finely dice the ham and add back to soup. Season to taste with McKenzie's Natural Sea Salt andMcKenzie's Whole Black Peppercorns.
Serve soup in large bowls with grated parmesan and parsley sprinkled over the top and fresh crusty bread.
Vegetarian Option: Do not use bacon bones or ham hock and add 2 vegetable stock cubes.

Serves 6

Chicken, Bacon & Eggplant Pesto Penne

penne pasta

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp chilli
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 small jar eggplant pesto
500g chicken thighs, cubed
3 rashers bacon, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
parmesan cheese to serve

Cook penne pasta according to packet directions
Heat oil in a large frypan and fry bacon, brown chicken then add tomatoes, pesto and salt & pepper to taste.
Drain pasta and add to frypan and mix well.
Serve with parmesan cheese.

Serves 3-4

Source: Special-K

31May10 Special-K: I made this up tonight with things I had on hand and it was delicious, I will definitely make this again.

Pappardelle with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crispy Porcini Pangrattato

I've just finished watching an episode of Jamie at Home and he made this delicious looking pasta - Pappardelle with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crispy Porcini Pangrattato
I'll definitely be trying this one out soon.

Garlic Scallop & Chilli Pasta

Flour for dusting
Salt
Black Pepper, freshly ground
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive Oil
400g Spaghetti
24 Scallops
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 large Red Chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
1 Lemon, finely grated zest and juice
Rocket leaves for serving
½ c Grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.
Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and dust them with flour. Season with salt & pepper.
Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and cook the scallops quickly on both sides.
Remove the scallops from the pan and cover them with tin foil to keep warm.
Add the garlic, chilli and lemon zest to the pan and cook for several minutes until the garlic starts to turn golden.
Add the lemon juice.
Toss the garlic mixture through the pasta and add half the parmesan.
Quickly toss through the scallops and serve immediately with the remaining parmesan on a bed of rocket.

Good sources of dietary fibre

• Wholemeal, granary and softgrain varieties of bread
• Jacket potatoes, new potatoes in their skins and baked potato skins
• Wholegrain breakfast cereals, eg. Weetabix, branflakes, unsweetened muesli, Shreddies and porridge oats
• Wholemeal pasta and brown rice
• Beans, lentils and peas
• Fresh and dried fruits – particularly if the skins are eaten
• Vegetables – particularly if the skins are eaten
• Nuts and seeds
• Wholemeal flour

Low Fat Pasta Carbonara

400g dried fettuccine or spaghetti
olive oil cooking spray
150g rindless shortcut bacon, thinly sliced
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
3 eggs
50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 Tbs flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Cook pasta in a large saucepan or boiling salted water, following packet directions, until just tender.
Meanwhile, lightly spray a frying pan with oil. Heat over medium heat. Add bacon and onion.
Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden.
Drain pasta and return immediately to hot saucepan.
Whish eggs in a jug with a fork. Add to hot pasta. Stir quickly to coat pasta.
Add bacon mixture, parmesan, parsley and salt and pepper to pasta.
Toss over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through.
Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Per Serve: 2407kj; 12.7g fat; 5.2g saturated fat; 29.1g protein; 71.1 carb; 4.9g fibre; 174mg cholesterol; 784mg sodium.

Source: Super Food Ideas magazine - April 2004. P34.

Salmon and Wasabi Ravioli with Kaffir Lime Sauce

1 quantity or 250g (8 oz) fresh pasta or 40 wonton wrappers

Filling
300g (10 oz) salmon fillet
1/3 cup creme fraiche* or sour cream
125g (4 oz) ricotta cheese
wasabi to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon chopped dill
cracked pepper
kaffir lime sauce
1 cup (8 fl oz) fish or vegetable stock
6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) cream

Cut pasta into 10cm (4 inch) squares and set aside.

To make filling, cut salmon into slices 2cm (3/4 inch) thick.

Place salmon, creme fraiche, ricotta, wasabi, dill and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Place spoonfuls of filling on pasta squares or wonton wrappers and top with anotherpasta square or wonton wrapper. Press squares firmly around edges to seal.
To make sauce, place stock, lime leaves and cream in a saucepan and simmer gently until reduced by half.
To cook ravioli, place it in a large saucepan of boiling water and cook for 6-8 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Drain and place ravioli in serving bowls and spoon sauce over it. Top with cracked pepper.

Serves 4 to 6.

* creme fraiche - a mixture of sour cream and fresh cream.

Source: Marie Claire Cooking

Special K 16Feb03 We cooked this last night and although it was time consuming, because we made the fresh pasta as well, it was definitely worth the wait. We cut the salmon into bite sized pieces instead of slices and ended up making them into tortellini instead of ravioli because there was plenty of salmon mixture to make about 30 large pieces. We used dried kaffir lime leaves and vegetable stock and the sauce was delicious.

Chicken Pasta Bake

2 cups dried pasta (shells, penne etc)
¼ cup olive oil
4 (approx 460g) chicken thigh fillets
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
3 rashers bacon, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped
440g tin tomato soup
1/3 cup sour cream
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling water with a little oil added until just tender. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, slice chicken breasts into long strips then cut into cubes.
Heat oil in a heavy-based pan and cook chicken quickly over high heat until browned, but not cooked through. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
Reheat oil in pan and add onion, carrot and bacon. Stir over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add zucchini and soup. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Combine pasta, chicken, tomato mixture and sour cream. Season to taste.
Spread into a casserole dish and top with grated cheese.
Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Serve with a tossed garden salad.

Serves: 4

Source: Family Circle Chicken Recipes

NOTE:
This is a bit time consuming because of all the chopping but is definitely worth it. It also reheats well in the microwave if you have leftovers.

Bacon and Pumpkin Pesto Pasta

This delicious pasta dish can be made with home-made pesto or a good store bought variety. This is a regular fixture on my meal rotation.

1kg kent pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, cut into 2.5cm pieces
Olive oil spray
Salt & freshly ground pepper
400g dried penne pasta
300g short-cut bacon, thinly sliced
125g (1/2 cup) Basil Pesto
shaved parmesan

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Place the pumpkin, in a single layer, on the prepared tray.
Spray with olive oil spray and season with salt & pepper.
Bake in oven for 25mins or until tender.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain and return to the pan.
Cook the bacon in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, stirring, for 5mins or until crisp and golden.
Add the pesto to the pasta and toss until coated.
Add the pumpkin and bacon and toss until well combined.
Divide among serving bowls and sprinkle with parmesan.
Serve immediately.

Serves 4. Prep & cooking time - 30 mins

Source: Australian Good Taste, March 2006. P61

Wild Mushroom Lasagne

I first made this in 2002 and it was delicious and reheated the leftovers today and it was still great. I couldn't find dried Porcini mushrooms so I used dried Shitake mushrooms instead and the taste was amazing. Will definitely be making this again and will search for porcini next time just to see how much it changes the flavour. It is fairly time consuming so allow plenty of prep time or make the day before.

Mushroom filling3 cups water
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
2 pounds fresh white mushrooms/button mushrooms
2 large zucchini (about 1 pound)
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons Sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
4 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
eighteen 7- by 3 1/2-inch sheets dry no-boil lasagne (about 1 pound)
1/2 pound freshly grated mozzarella (about 2 cups)
1 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup)

Make filling:In a small saucepan bring water to a boil and remove pan from heat. Stir in porcini. Soak porcini 20 minutes. Lift out porcini, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. In a sieve rinse porcini to remove any grit and pat dry. Chop porcini and transfer to a large bowl. Simmer reserved soaking liquid until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Pour liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into bowl with porcini.

Quarter white mushrooms and in a food processor pulse in 3 batches until finely chopped. Cut zucchini into 1/4-inch dice. Chop onion and mince garlic. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and cook one third white mushrooms with 2 tablespoons Sherry, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and they begin to brown. Add mushroom mixture to porcini. Cook remaining mushrooms in 2 batches in butter with remaining Sherry in same manner and add to porcini mixture. In skillet cook zucchini in 1 tablespoon butter until tender and stir into porcini mixture. In skillet cook onion in remaining tablespoon butter, stirring, until softened. Stir in garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir onion into mushroom mixture until combined. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Make sauce:In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes and whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan, mustard, and salt. Remove pan from heat and cover surface of sauce with wax paper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 375°F. and butter a 13 x 9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.

Assemble lasagne:Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in baking dish and cover with 3 pasta sheets, making sure they don't touch each other. Spread one third filling over pasta sheets in dish and top with 3 more pasta sheets, gently pressing down layers to remove air pockets. Top pasta sheets with one third mozzarella. Continue layering in same manner with sauce, pasta sheets, filling, and mozzarella, ending with mozzarella (dish will be filled to rim). Spread remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan. On a foil-lined large baking sheet bake lasagne in middle of oven until bubbling and golden, about 45 minutes. Let lasagne stand 20 minutes. Lasagne may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lasagne to room temperature and reheat before serving.

Serves 6.

Source: Gourmet March 1999