Pasta With Pesto Cream Sauce

As it seems to be par for the course, since I've been back blogging. I changed up this recipe a bit....But NOT too much!  And it was mostly with the pesto sauce.  Traditional pesto is made with basil. HOWEVER...

It is out of season, and basil is SUPER expensive.  An acceptable alternative is to use spinach instead.  So that is what happened.

I'm Excited to either have basil come back in season, or to try to grow it...again (it is like the surface of the sun on our patio, so IDK if I'll EVER be able to grow anything with any type of satisfaction)

So let's get started!

Firstly, The Crew

Next get that pasta cooking!!

Then, start on the pesto!

Toss some spinach (or basil if you're a traditionalist) into the food processor

Then some parm

Then the garlic

(Then if you are rollin in the dough ;-) you can add some pine nuts, but at MY co-op it was 7$ for 1/2 cup.  No thanks.  lol. I'm not THAT hippie )

Blend it up.

Add some olive oil to form a paste.

Now, at this point, if you aren't SUPER excited...you may need to check yo-self

Moving onto the sauce...

Heat up some half-and-half (or heavy cream if you must) and some butter (use more if you are using half-and-half, and less if you are using heavy cream)

Once that is melted, the magic really starts

Toss that pesto into the pot!

Stir it together and add some parm (or Italian blend cheese)

Drain the pasta, and pour it into a bowl.  Add the sauce, and stir to coat the pasta.

Add some diced tomatoes

Top with even more parm....

and There You Have It.

An incredible dinner.

TheHubby LOVED IT!  He ranted and raved about it all evening, and all the next day...and the next. That's RIGHT ladies (and gentlemen, if you are reading this) I got him to eat leftovers for THREE days!  Which is a feat, as of now, unheard of!

The spinach and tomatoes give it a bruschetta-like flavor (as per TheHubby)

I imagine the basil would give it an INCREDIBLE taste, which is why I am SO excited for basil to come back into season!

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