Pasta with Creamy Pesto

Ingredients

Pesto Sauce

1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cloves garlic (I cheat and use the stuff in a jar)
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese (non-processed parmesan is fine too)
1 t coarse ground black pepper
to taste salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Alfredo Sauce

1/4 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 T flour
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese (or freshly shredded parmesan)

Pasta

cooked pasta of choice (our favorites: ribbed penne or capellini)

Instructions

Pesto

Process the first six ingredients in a food processor until uniformly chopped. Gradually add the olive oil while the processor is running. You'll definitely want to taste and add things as needed. Consistency will be a fairly thick paste.

Alfredo

Melt the butter in a medium pan. Add flour; cook and stir for 2 minutes with a wire whisk. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Cok until it starts to thicken. Add cheese.

When the sauce has thickened to your liking, add the pesto. Serve over hot pasta. Serves four or two depending on how "wet" you like your pasta.

Notes

For a richer sauce, you can substitute half-and-half for the milk in the Alfredo part of the recipe. I also had a visitor who tried this recipe suggest adding sundried tomatoes (from one 8 oz jar packed in oil, rinsed and roughly chopped) along with the pesto for an interesting texture and flavor (thanks for the suggestion David!).
 

Something possessed me to put some of my favorite recipes on my web site back in 1995. I add a new one now and then when I discover something interesting. My recipes are generally combinations of favorite recipes I've found in cookbooks. They were developed through experimentation and lots of tasting!
Susan's Recipes Index
Susan Brumbaugh's Main Web Site