Curtis Stone: Fresh Fettuccine with Homemade Pesto

Its been a while since I join the girls in

Submitting this post to Cook Like A Star 
this month’s featured star is the dashing Aussie chef - Curtis Stone. 

This event is hosted by  Zoe from BakeFor Happy Kids
co hosted with  Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out 
with  Grace  from  Life Can Be Simple . 

 Fresh Fettuccine with Homemade Pesto

(entree for my dinner tonite)

as you can see ~ I love peas!

recipe from www.curtisstone.com

Ingredients: original recipe serves 4:

1 ½ bunches fresh basil leaves (about 1½ cups / 30g lightly packed)

4 oz / 115 g pine nuts, toasted

½ cup / 70 g freshly grated parmesan cheese

½ cup / 100 ml extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup of green peas

9 oz / 255 g fresh fettuccine

1 oz / 25 g parmesan cheese, shaved (for garnish)

To make the pesto

1. Grind the basil, pine nuts and grated parmesan cheese with a mortar and pestle until a smooth paste forms. Slowly add ¼ cup / 50 ml of olive oil, grinding until a smooth sauce forms. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor instead.
2. Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cover the pesto and set it aside.

To prepare the pasta and serve

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat.
2. Add the fettuccine to the boiling, salted water and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking, about 2 minutes.
3. In another pot cook fresh peas and drain.
4. Drain the fettuccine, reserving about 1 ½ cups of the cooking liquid.
5. Toss the fettuccine and cooked peas in a large bowl with the pesto mixture in order to coat the fettuccine and peas with the pesto, adding enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten the sauce so that it coats the pasta evenly.
6. Using a two-pronged carving fork, swirl some of the pasta around the fork. Slide the pasta off the fork and mound it in the centre of a plate. Repeat for each serving.
7. Drizzle a little pesto around the edge of each plate.
8. Garnish with shaved parmesan cheese and serve.

 (main course)

 chicken thigh in tomato sauce

cooked in HCPan

Well, my sweet basil plant is struggling after harvesting it twice

so went and bought a package of cut sprigs

leave the top two or four leaves at the tip of the sprigs

when plucking the basil for cooking

leave the sprigs soaking in glass jars

hopefully in a week's time there will be roots sprouting

 

Instructions (copied from www but cannot link cos that link is attracting weird visitors)

1. • 1
     Cut a 6-inch tip from the stem of a parent plant, using clean, sharp scissors. Snip off any bloom buds on the stem and remove leaves from the lower half of the stem. Take the cutting from a healthy, mature basil plant in spring or early summer, before young green stems turn woody.
   • 2
     Put the stem in a clear glass or jar of water. Don't allow any of the leaves to touch the water.
   • 3   Set the cutting on a warm, brightly lit windowsill out of direct sun. Your basil will root in      

               seven to 10 days.
   • 4
     Change the water every day while the cutting is rooting.
   • 5
     Fill a 4-inch pot with sterile potting soil when your basil cutting's roots are about an inch long. Plant the cutting in the pot and set the pot in a shallow container of warm water until the surface of the soil feels barely moist. Remove it from the water and allow it to drain freely.
   • 6
     Keep your basil plant in a warm, brightly lit spot. A sunny windowsill is perfect. Water just enough to evenly moisten the soil when the surface begins to dry out. Don't let the plant get wet feet.