Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fettuccini with pesto, pancetta & mushrooms


I was feeling a bit adventurous tonight (hey hey, I could see Steve getting very excited ;-p), I wanted something different for dinner!! After browsing through all the cook books I have, I decided to make Jamie Oliver’s pesto sauce (The naked chef).

It was so easy to put together, I pan fried some pancetta and mushrooms and mixed them with the pasta. It was great!! Love the nutty flavour of the pesto sauce. Pine nuts, garlic and basil worked well together, beautiful flavour!!

Steve’s verdict was..hmmm.. Ok, smells like the back garden with freshly cut grass?!!haha, obviously it was a tad too herby for him. Grrrrr.. Picky hubby !!! Ohh, well, I am pretty sure he will be impressed with the 2nd part of dinner – the naked chef – Jin… LOL


Pesto sauce
Sauce: Jamie Oliver – The Naked Chef

¼ clove of garlic, chopped
3 good handfuls of fresh basil
1 handful of lightly roasted pine nuts
1 good handful of grated parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Small squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Put your garlic into a pestle and mortar or a food processor. Pound or pulse this with your fresh basil leaves. Add the cooled, golden roasted pine nuts to the mixture and pound or pulse. Turn out into a bowl and add half the parmesan. Gently stir this in and add the olive oil, just enough to bind the sauce and get it to the right consistency – semi-wet but firm. Taste the mixture, and add a little salt and pepper and the rest of the cheese.

***** This is my entry for this week's PPN held by The Cooking Diva **********


15 comments:

Irene said...

this sounds delicious; i love jamie oliver

daphne said...

hahaa..I love jamie's pesto!!! And I think u did such a great job with it. What a cheeky post too. LOL

Little Corner of Mine said...

It looks delicious! As for your hubby, luckily you still have naked chef part 2. LOL!

Pam said...

Looks wonderful! Too herby?? There's no such thing as too herby!

Patsyk said...

My family probably wouldn't care for it either... but, that's totally my kind of meal!

tigerfish said...

WhoaAaaa....you amazed me with your creative pasta dish once again!

Ning said...

My Hubby had the same reaction to your Hubby when he first tasted the basil pesto! LOL!!! After that, I always make sure to add sun-dried tomatoes to our pesto. I think it tempers the "herby" taste of basil. :)

Jin Hooi said...

Irene
Same!!!

daphne
hehe.. thanks and yeah, a bit naughty hey ;-p

little corner of mine
haha.. u r funny

pam
true, but Steve doesn't think the same .. D'oh!!

patsyk
yeah, poor us for having more adventurous tastebuds ;-))

tigerfish
haha.. thanks ;-))

Ning
will surely add some sun dried tomatoes next time ;-) Thanks for the idea

Mochachocolata Rita said...

fettucini's my favorite pasta...but they are hard to get here and i am now stuckkkkk with two big packs of fusili hehehe i have to finish those first :)

Ingrid said...

Jin, the naked chef! LOL! Yeah, I bet he was happy with the dessert course!

I think the dish looks and sounds terrific!
~ingrid

Jin Hooi said...

Rita
hehe.. should be very easy to finish the fusili and they are so versetile ;-))

Ingrid
hahaha.. u r funny my darling ;-)

Natashya said...

You pasta looks wonderful to me! I love herbs, no such thing as too much.

Jin Hooi said...

Natashya
Aww.. thanks !!

Ruth Daniels said...

It looks wonderful and I'm adding it to the Temporary Presto Pasta 87 Roundup. Thanks for sharing.

Jin Hooi said...

Ruth
Thanks ;-)