Pesto Cavatappi -- posted by Jessica

I had a nice looking basil plant that I wanted to use up before it got too cold with a hard frost so I came across this copycat recipe of Noodles and Company's pesto cavatappi. I love Noodles and CO. but they are on the pricey side so I don't go there often. But I did try their pesto cavatappi once when we ordered from Noodles for a work lunch. I'm not always a super huge fan of pesto, but I really liked their version; it has white wine and cream in it which helps to mellow out the strong pesto flavor. The original recipe just called for using jarred pesto, but as the whole point was to use up my fresh basil, I found a pesto recipe from Cooking Light website that I decided to try. It made about 3/4 cup total and I used 1/2 cup for the pasta recipe. I froze the rest of the pesto by 1 Tablespoonfuls in an ice cube tray. Once they were frozen, I popped them out of the tray and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer for future use.
All in all, the pasta dish turned out really well and was pretty easy to prepare. The only change I would make next time, is maybe use more mushrooms (you can never have too many!) and a bit more white wine as the flavor was mostly lost under the pesto.

Ingredients:

12 oz. curly pasta (I could not find cavatappi at the store but found a similar spiral shaped pasta called cellantani)
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved (I used 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped)
1/2 pint sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup pesto

Cook the pasta to al dente. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms and tomatoes in olive oil. When the pasta is almost done, add the wine to the mushroom mixture and let it reduce for 2 minutes. Add the cream and reduce for another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the pesto. Drain the pasta and add to the pesto cream sauce. I added a little of the pasta water to thin it out a bit. Top with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley and serve.

Serves 4-6


Basil Pesto

2 Tb. pine nuts or chopped walnuts (I used 1/4 cup of almonds as that is what I had in my freezer, and pine nuts are rather expensive)
2 peeled garlic cloves
3 Tb extra virgin olive oil
4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves (approx. 4 oz.)
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated Parmesan
1/4 tsp salt

Process the nuts and garlic in a food process till minced. Add in the oil and pulse 3 times. Add in the basil, cheese and salt and process till finely minced and blended. 
Yield: about 3/4 cup