Pesto Party in My Mouth

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their wonderful comments on the last few posts. It's amazing to get such great feedback. I'd also like to welcome the two new Eaters I've gained over the past couple of days. Bienvenue, wilkommen, and mi casa es su casa! Now on to the fun!

 

Just this past week, my college roommate, A, was having a pretty rough go at life. She and I have been through a lot together, which tends to happen when you live together for 4 years. We've always been there for each other no matter what (me for her when she had some problems come up during our senior year and her for me when I'd cry myself to sleep waiting for the hubby to come home).

 

Anyway, I decided as a nice little surprise to have her over for dinner the other night. She had to work so I told her to just swing on by after she got off, and I'd have dinner ready for her. There's this Italian restaurant that we like to go to across the Arkansas River on the Riverwalk called Gina & Guiseppe's that has some amazing food. It never fails, when we get there A always gets the mostaccioli with pesto cream sauce. It's her favorite. I wanted to surprise her by recreating it for her. Since I knew the hubby had to be able to eat it too, I added some grilled chicken into the mix.

 

I watched as she took her first bite, her eyes closing and a long "MMMMMMM" escaped her mouth. "You know what this could use less of?" she asked me. I gave her a quizzical look and waited for her answer, worrying that I didn't do a very good job. "It could use less AWESOME!" Of course I grinned and had to make sure she wasn't kidding. The hubby agreed with her! Considering he's not a big fan of pesto (weird, right?), that was pretty amazing in itself. What made it even better was this was solely my own recipe! I hope you all enjoy as much as we did.

 

Mostaccioli with Pesto Cream Sauce
Recipe by me

Pesto
2 cups fresh basil, chopped
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, peeled

Cream Sauce
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tbl butter
1 chicken bouillion cube
1 cup freshly shredded parmesan
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

16 oz mostaccioli (or desired pasta)
1 lb grilled chicken, cubed (optional)

1. For the pesto: Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until all the ingredients are incorporated. Set aside.
2. For the cream sauce:  In a medium-sized pot, heat the cream and butter to a gentle boil. Add the bouillion cube and a bit of the cheese, whisking until completely melted. Add the rest of the cheese a little at a time until all of it has been incorporated. Cook until thickened, remove from heat, and add the pesto sauce.
3. In a large pot, boil slightly salted water. Add your pasta and cook until just done. Drain and return to pan. Add the pesto cream sauce and toss to coat. Serve with a basil leaf and some freshly shredded parmesan cheese.