Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

For the Pesto sauce

1 cup of basil, cilantro or spinach
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the Pasta

1 head of broccoli cut in florets
1 sliced green bell pepper
1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes
1 small chopped tomato
1 pound pasta of your choice
Salt and black pepper to taste

For Garnishing

A handful of pine nuts

Steps to follow:

1. Grind all the ingredients for the pesto sauce in a blender to a smooth paste.
2. Boil water with a little bit of salt and extra virgin olive oil. Once it starts boiling, add the pasta and cook for about 12-15 minutes.
3. While the pasta is boiling, take a table spoon of oil in a large skillet and saute the broccoli, bell peppers, sundried tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes so that the vegetables remain crisp.
4. Towards the end, add the chopped tomatoes and turn the flame off making sure the veggies don’t get mushy.
5. Add the cooked pasta, 1 cup of pasta water and the pesto sauce and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.
6. Serve steaming hot with pine nuts sprinkled on top.