My First Post!

I'll explain egg-fish eventually, I promise!!

For the time being, I'm going to mess with the settings/look/feel a bit.

Now, the recipe originally called for spaghetti, but we didn't have any, so I used gobbetti (my favorite is by Bionaturae) and it worked out well. I also roasted two chicken breasts in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes, chopped them up, and tossed them in. No photo because I didn't know I was going to be a blogger! :)

I really enjoyed what we had for dinner last night, even if D. was frightened of it when I described it to him. Adapted from The Passionate Cook's recipe, dinner was as follows:

Gobbetti with Avocado & Cashew Pesto
(serves 4)

5 oz cashew nuts
5 oz g parmesan
4 cloves garlic
3 oz basil
¼ tsp dried crushed chili flakes
3 avocados
4 oz olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
14 oz pasta

optional: 2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks

Toast the cashews in a dry, non-stick pan until browning and fragrant. Add to a food processor with the garlic cloves and grind until very fine. Grinding the garlic with the hot cashews will almost "cook" it - rendering the garlic less sharp and smoother in taste.

Chop the basil in the food processor - of you're having trouble with the blades pushing the leaves up too much without chopping them, add some of the nuts to weigh them down. You can also start adding some oil. When all the basil and nuts are combined, reserve in a bowl. Mash the avocados in the food processor (or with a fork) very finely, then combine with the nuts & basil. Add olive oil to achieve a smooth paste. Season with lemon juice and chili flakes, add half the parmesan, and salt & pepper to taste.

If preparing this in advance, leave one stone of the avocados in the pesto, smooth the top of the pesto and tightly cover with cling film.

Cook 14 oz pasta to packages instructions. Drain, then stir in the pesto and serve immediately, topping with remaining parmesan.