Thursday, September 11, 2008

Recipe Thursday

Spinach Linguine w/Basil-Cilantro Pesto and Artichokes

This was really good. It sort of reminded me of the yummy basil pasta that is in the Lean Cuisine...and yes, that is a compliment. The authors of the book Veganomicon said that I would find myself craving this, and they were right. I had some at lunch and I can't wait for dinner!

Ingredients

Pasta

1/2 pound spinach linguine
2 T olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced in half moons
4 cloves garlic
2 T white cooking wine, veggie broth, or water
1/2 t salt
several pinches course ground black pepper
1 recipe Basil-Cilantro Pesto
1 15 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced in half

Basil-Cilantro Pesto
2 Cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 Cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
1/2 Cup slivered or sliced almonds
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 Cup olive oil

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the linguine according to the package directions, usually about 10 minutes.

2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute the onion in the olive oil until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for a minute more. Add the white wine, salt and pepper and cook for another minute or two. Lower heat to low.


3. When the linguine is ready, don't drain it. Use a pasta sppon to transfer it to the pan in batches. When you add on batch, add a bit of pesto too, and mix to coat the linguine. Put the rest of the pesto in and coat.


4. Add the artichoke hearts and toss to coat. Cook gently over low heat until the artichokes are heated through. Serve immediatly.


For the Pesto

Place the basil, cilantro, almonds, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor and blend until pasty, scraping down the sides occasionally. Drizzle the olive oil in until the pesto is relatively smooth.

Notes

I actually used cashews for the pesto because I was out of almonds. It still tasted delicious, but I think the almonds would have been better.I was also out of linguine, spinach or otherwise, so I used angel hair pasta. Still awesome!!! This is so rich and creamy you will never know this is Vegan.
Not such a good picture

P.S. I don't think it's my fault all my pictures suck. Even though I read all the reviews in the whole wide world when I bought my camera (the Canon SD 11ooIS) I do NOT like it. Or I suck at taking pictures.

3 comments:

Anonymous Me said...

It's super hard to take good pictures of food. I think the people who can pull it off must have a tripod, or a professional studio or something. Srsly.

kismetsCIRCUS said...

i made mexican corn ala lazy patty style. it was loose corn (not on the cob like it should be) and i only had cayenne pepper and butter (though you're suppose to use mayo and add lime juice on top of the cayenne).

however, despite all the switching...i have for you kate...american eskimo corn. add cayenne pepper. all vegan, all the time. ;)

Kmommy said...

Oh that sounds soooo good!!! I love everything in it :) I wish my hubby and 11-year old daughter liked something other than meat for dinner! They hate to try new things, or things with too much flavor ;)