Super Green Pesto Pasta

Now pesto and pasta is an absolute winning combination but when it comes to my weeknight meals I want to supercharge them with these green guys. Some courgettes and a bag of frozen peas. I always feel a bit better about a plate of pasta when I know there's veggies involved and courgette and peas just work really well alongside the pasta. So I'm just going to go for a rough chop here so you get a little bite of courgette in every mouthful of pasta and then have those gorgeous little pops of sweet pea alongside. So straight into a hot frying pan with a little bit of oil. Just make sure that pan is nice and hot before you start adding the courgette. You don't want to sweat these veggies you want to give them a good cook and then give it a good toss. Okay this is going to tick away giving us time to make up this pesto. Now pesto is one of the classic recipes that every cook should learn how to make just because it's so flavourful to do at home and it only takes a few ingredients. So basil is the base flavour here so you're going to need a good bunch of the fresh stuff. Get in there with a handful of pine nuts and a crushed whole clove of garlic. Grate some parmesan, a good bit. This is where the salty richness of the pesto comes from. Last glug of some extra virgin olive oil and a good seasoning of some black pepper to finish this off and as you can see I'm using one of these little food processor attachments that comes with a stick blender but you could easily do this in a big food processor or if you have one a pestle and mortar is probably the most classic way you can make beautiful pesto and it also gives it a really interesting texture as well. Now I would say this is probably the most useful thing to invest in one of these little food processors because not only do you get that but you also get the stick blender which is great for soups and a whole host of things and it's quite handy for making little kind of marinades and sauces just like this. So blitz that up just until you have a nice smooth pesto and just like that one of the easiest quickest sauces you will ever get. Come and have a look at that. This is where the action is and the minute you take off the lid it's just this waft of basil and garlic and parmesan and saltiness. I'm actually going to give it a taste and it really is important when you're making any sauce like this just to taste it and make sure you get the balance of flavours right. That is so nice. This needs no more. It's exactly where it needs to be. So we've got the courgette cooking over here, we've got the pesto here, now it's time for our pasta in the pot. And this is one of my favourite cheat quick cooking ingredients. Pasta that's fresh is just gonna cook in about two to three minutes but you want to heavily salt that water so you get really great flavour and just pop it straight in. Break it up with the tongs just make sure you get it nice and evenly cooked but literally this just takes moments. As soon as they start coming out of their little tagliatelle balls we're looking good so I can leave them to cook just for another minute or so and in that time we're gonna get some frozen peas in alongside the courgette. Give it a good stir through. Peas from the freezer cook in moments. Literally you just need to take the bite out of them make sure that they're warm through and then you're ready to bring this all together. Okay we're in business we've got peas beautifully cooked through nice and glossy all that courgette action in there. Pasta is at this point now cooked heat goes off and then we're just going to take that beautiful luscious tagliatelle straight over into the hot pan taking with it a little bit of that starchy water which will help give you this gorgeous glossy finish. Take your time with this you've done all the hard work at this point it's time to bring it together. I don't know if I'm telling you that or telling me but I'm enjoying this little moment. Okay pasta in it's time for that gorgeous pesto just pour it straight on in don't waste a single bit get it all in there and now the moment of truth turn off the heat and just start tossing that through. Add in some of that cloudy pasta water to your tagliatelle and give it a good mix it is an absolute game changer. This is where it's at this is when I get really excited about really simple flavours and really simple meals that can just be brought to the table. I'm going to finish it off with a little grating of parmesan just over the top and the great thing about this pan action is that you can serve this straight to the table no hassle everyone can dig in a few little basil leaves just over the top just to garnish that is a dish that is good to go I'm going to taste it right now see where we're at. I mean there is just something so special about really simple ingredients shining for a midweek dinner that just tastes fantastic and because we've got the courgettes because you've got the peas it feels to me much more superfooding than that delicious give it a go this week and just like that your new midweek pasta fix sorted