Fresh Cherry Tomato and Pesto Pasta Recipe

This is a great side that is not complicated to make.  It goes great with Italian food and you can turn it into a meal by putting roast chicken breast on top.  The recipe serves 4 and takes about 30 minutes to make.  10 minutes of prep and about 20 minutes to cook.  It is also a little festive with the red and green colour combination of the ingredients.

Fresh Cherry Tomato and Pesto Pasta

Fresh Tomato and Pesto Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
	12ox (375g) Penne
	2 TBSP All-Purpose Flour
	2 Cups (500ml) milk
	1/3 Cup prepared Basil Pesto
	1/4 TSP Salt
	1/2 TSP Pepper
	2 Cups (500ml) Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
	1 TBSP Grated Parmesan Cheese
	Fresh Basil Leaves
Steps:
	1) In a large pot cook pasta as instructed on box
	2) In bowl or large measuring glass combine cold milk with flour; whisk together well.
	3) Drain pasta and return to pot on medium heat.  Add flour and milk mixture and pesto.
	4) Stir frequently and cook for 5 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
	5) Season with salt, pepper and add tomatoes; cook till hot throughout.
	6) Garnish on plate or serving dish with parmesan and basil leaves.
Serve hot and immediately.

Ingredients for Fresh Cherry Tomato and Pesto Pasta

Prep work completed

Step 3 and 4 - Pasta Cooking with Pesto and Flour and Milk mixutre

Step 5 - Adding Tomatoes to Pasta with the Sauce now thickened

The Finished Product

Substitutions and Additions:

• You can cut out the salt in the recipe; as the parmesan already has plenty.
• You can add sliced pieces of roasted chicken breast on top to make this side into a main.
•  For added color and saltiness add sliced cured black olives.
•  For a spicier pasta add a 1/2 tsp of chili flakes when adding the pesto. 

What I've learned in making this pasta:

• It tastes far better with freshly grated parmesan than parmesan from the tube.  Saying that parmesan from grated by the cheese counter does taste better than the tube as well.

• I can not tell the difference in parmesan from Canada and Italy.  So, I don't why people will pay 3x the price for the cheese. 

Thoughts, comments or suggestions?  Please add them below.

White Cannellini Bean Soup Recipe

This is my most recent adventure in soup. I have prepared it 1/2 dozen times without fail and it always pleasing on a cold day. This Italian style soup goes great with pasta, steak or pork. Sprinkle some fresh parsley to gourmet it up and serve hot. It makes 4 portions.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes of prep time, 35 minutes of cooking time and just a couple of minutes to blend and serve. If you have leftovers, let it cool and it will easily last two more days in the refrigerator.

White Cannelini Bean Soup:

Combine in a saucepan or medium sized pot:
	1 Can (19oz/540ml) Cannellini Beans (aka White Kidney Beans) - Do not rinse or drain.
	1 Tetra-Pak (900ml) No Salt Added Chicken Stock
	1 Sweet White or Vidalia Onion Chopped
	8 Cloves of Garlic (peeled)
	1/4 TSP Fresh Ground Pepper
Garnish with:
	2 TBSP of Chopped Italian Coarse Parsley
Steps:
	1) Bring to boil beans, and other items listed above.
	2) Cover and cook for 25 minutes on medium-low heat or until garlic is softened.
	3) Using an immersion blender puree the soup until smooth or use a blender and perform in batches. (See down below for blending tips.)
	4) Garnish with chopped Parsley and serve.

All that you need to make the soup:

The soup before boiling:

The soup after blending and prior to adding parsley garnish:

Bon Appetit! 

What I learned in making blended soups:

It is a pain to puree soup in batches in a classic blender.  It is more dishes to clean, far noisier and your soup cools in the process.  Having a hand blender makes life far easier.  Also, you need not worry about presentation when chopping the vegetables, etc.  Just get the pieces small enough to get into the blenders blades. 

I recommend for $40 a Cuisineart Hand Blender because they are inexpensive and easily found.  However the plastic coupling that connects the motor shaft to the blender is cheaply made and is prone to melt.  I have returned two of them to the Bay in the first couple of months.  But, the solution is simple, blend for a minute, let the hand blender relax and then blend again for another minute until the soup is smooth.  Giving the motor and drive shaft opportunity to cool.  I also use this blender to make homemade hummus and other fresh dips.