Grillin' Like A Villian

In a previous post, I talked about my love for football. Even during the off season, it's not unusual to find me watching the NFL Network, waiting for any updates on the Green Bay Packers, or any team in general. 

Weird, I know. Whatever.

Even though I miss football, I love the warmer weather that spring brings. It's not unbearably hot (I'm looking at you Oklahoma summer) and the evenings are always so nice.

And that is why I love grilling and spring food. It's so fresh and delicious.

This recipe I'm about to share with you is a perfect addition to any grilled meat. It's easy to pull together and tastes delicious.

Plus, it's just so pretty. 




















All you have to do is cook up some pasta, pour it in a colander and let it cool.
















While it's cooking and cooling, make the pesto. You can use store bought pesto, but where is the fun in that? I followed this recipe for the pesto.

Then, I drained and chopped up a jar of roasted red peppers.

While I was chopping up the peppers, I drained some black olives in a colander

Then I mixed the cool pasta, red peppers and olives together in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, I took 1/3 cup of the pesto and 1/3 cup of Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing and whisked it together.

Next I poured the pesto and dressing mixture over my pasta and stirred it all together.

At this point, I went ahead and took a few bites. It needed more salt, so I sprinkled some kosher salt. I also added a few more spoonfuls of pesto. You don't have to. I just love pesto.

Next, put in in a pretty bowl, cover and in saran wrap and pop it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Right before you serve it, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

• 12 oz. Quinoa pasta
• 2 cans of sliced black olives
• 1 jar of roasted red peppers
• 1/3 cup pesto
• 1/3 cup Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing
• Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package. Drain and let cool

2. While pasta is cooking, make pesto

2. Drain sliced black olives

3. Drain and chop up roasted red peppers

4. Add black olives and red peppers to cooled pasta. Mix

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together pesto and dressing

6. Pour pesto mix over pasta and stir. Adjust salt and pesto to taste

7. Cover and store in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

8. Right before serving, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

***

We had this pasta salad with some grilled pork chops. We really enjoyed it. However, I made the salad too early so it sat in the refrigerator for 6 hours. That was a little too long, so I would definitely keep it around 1-3 hours. 

This would be good with grilled steak, chicken, fish, etc. It was really light and fresh.

You can also use whatever pasta you'd like. It doesn't have to be gluten-free.

Another great thing about this pasta is that you can put whatever you'd like in it. Tomatoes would be a great addition. My dad said he would like green olives in it. Whatever you want to add would probably be really good.

Enjoy!

Kaci

Starting Off With A Bang!

I tried a lot of recipes this weekend and I will share them all with you, but this is the perfect dish to kick off this blog. When I tell you that you need to make this as soon as possible, I mean it. It also is probably the easiest and most flavorful pasta dish ever.

My whole family loved this dish. This is amazing because

1. My dad hates (HATES) pesto.

2. My sister won't eat anything green and doesn't like pasta.

So if they like it, I can guarantee you'll love it.

Okay...to the recipe! (said like "TO THE BATCAVE")

Don't worry about it.

First, cook some pasta. This is Mrs. Leeper's corn pasta (gluten-free) and it is fabulous. You can obviously use normal pasta. Obviously.

While the pasta was doing its thing, I took some yummy basil and dropped it in the food processor

Then the Parmesan cheese

Pine nuts and garlic came to the party

I then threw in the salt and pepper, gave it a whirl and then drizzled in some olive oil

This smells amazing. I literally walked around my house with this stuff making every one smell it.
Except my dad. Please refer to #1 above.
Butter and heavy cream are melted in a large pot then I added the pesto, stirred it together and let it simmer for a few minutes.
SIDE NOTE: I meant to get a picture of the butter and cream in the pot, but right when I put the butter and cream in, my sister dropped four plates on the floor, breaking all of them and halfway ripping off her toenail. Appetizing, right?

Add remaining Parmesan cheese, stir to melt then gently toss in the pasta and add some rotisserie chicken.

Andddd....VOILA! Everyone will be incredibly impressed with your culinary skills. And tummies will smile.

That's a win-win.

Rotisserie Chicken Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

Adapted from Kevin and Amanda

• 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper, each
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 oz Mrs. Leeper's corn spaghetti pasta
• Roughly 1 rotisserie chicken, cut into pieces.

1. Bring water to boil, then add 1 tbsp kosher salt and pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and set aside. Meanwhile, make the pesto.

2. Add basil, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Process while slowly drizzling in olive oil. Add the cream and butter to a large bowl set over medium heat. Pour in the pesto, stir until well combined, and let simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off heat, and add the the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and stir until melted and combined.

3. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir together. Now, you can either serve and top with hot rotisserie chicken or if your chicken is already chopped and is cold from the fridge, add it to the pasta and stir together for 2 minutes to heat up the chicken.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make this soon. As in now. It's the perfect pasta dish and it's so quick and wonderful.

Good luck!

Kaci