Is it good? It smells good.

New "adventures" in food. Let's just start this right-maybe it should be hurdles? :) I found a recipe through pinterest and it was a little out of my comfort zone but it looked delicious. I decided "I have to try it!" (we have banquets in the freezer if all else fails).
Hurdle #1 The recipe called for pesto, but there was no recipe for pesto and guess what...I have NEVER ate or made real pesto before. I have always wanted to try pesto though. So-"how the heck do you make pesto?". I searched online and found a pesto recipe too (which is now pinned on my pinterest board). I buy the ingredients for pesto-which are expensive by the way! I have never cooked with fresh basil or with pine nuts before. Fresh basil is VERY aromatic. I was a little intimidated by its strong smell.
Hurdle #2 Where the heck is the food processor? Seriously-who loses a food processor? Only me! lol I own a small 3 cup food processor and I RARELY use it. We remodeled our kitchen back in May-I'm guessing I moved it then and haven't needed it since, because I still don't know where it is. So now I think: I own a little mini chopper-which I also rarely use, can all those ingredients really fit in that tiny thing? The answer-yes! If you add a little at a time it will be small enough to fit it all by the end. By the time I decide to use the mini chopper my pasta water has been boiling and my pasta is in the water!

Hurdle #3 Get everything to the finish line at the same time. I used a package of green beans that we just prepped and froze ourselves. I was worried that they wouldn't be as done as I like them if I added them when the recipe said too so I put them in early. They were plenty done, and probably would have been fine when the recipe said! So my pasta and veggies are cooked and my pesto is done and then I realize- I never cooked the sausage! 

Luckily sausage was on sale this week and they had a new product (at least new to me), it was the Echrich smoked sausage we usually buy, except it was pre-sliced. I normally wouldn't buy the short cut sausage because there was less in the package for the same price as the regular sausage, but of course there was a coupon tempting me to buy it! What a time saver it was tonight-I threw it in a skillet and in no time it was browned and ready to go.

Pesto:

2 packed cups fresh basil

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup evoo

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I useds shaved, but think grated would have been fine and cheaper)

3 cloves garlic (I used a couple shakes of Garlic Garlic)

salt & pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a food processor until a paste like consistency. It's really as simple as that. This pesto recipe makes quite a bit more than you need for this meal, you could try to divide this in thirds or fourths to actually make the right amount, or freeze the extra or use for other meals.

For those of you who know me, you know that I love Tastefully Simple seasonings. Garlic Garlic is one of them I use frequently. There is a link above to my friend and wonderful consultant Mel Oliver's website if you'd like to order some garlic garlic, host a party, or see more about Tastefully Simple.

Pesto Orecchiette with smoked sausage

12 oz Orecchiette (I think thats a fancy name for pasta, I just used 16 oz salad shells)

1/2-3/4 pound frozen cut green beans

1 cup frozen peas

13 oz smoked sliced sausage

1/3 cup pesto

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

-Cook pasta according to package directions, add peas and green beans during last 3 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain pasta and veggies and return to pot. 

-While that is cooking you should also be cooking your sausage, you may need a little oil for this-I don't use oil to brown smoked sausage. I just cooked it until it was lightly browned and warmed through.

-Add sausage and pesto and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water to pasta and mix well. If it seems dry add a little more of the pasta water. Salt and pepper to taste.

-Sprinkle parmesan cheese on each individual serving.

The recipe I followed says it makes 4 servings, but it made a lot more than I thought it would. I would think it would easily make 6 servings.

As I'm serving dinner my daughter says: "What is it? Is it good? It smells good." She had two large bowls of it. My son had two smaller helpings, and said he didn't love it. The hubster still has not been home to try it, I really liked it. It was different. 

This really is another 20 minutes to dinner meal though-if you remember to cook the sausage at the same time, and know where your food processor is. :)

Below are the links to the original recipes, plus the link to my pinterest page. I'm telling you, if you give pinterest a chance-you'll be addicted to it just like me!
Link to the original recipe I found : Pesto Orecchiette With Chicken Sausage
Link to the pesto recipe I found: Fresh Basil Pesto (read the comments there are great tips for freezing pesto and pesto variations)

I again just have to say I LOVE PINTEREST.  Now, off to find my food processor, did I let someone borrow it???