Friday 3/20: Rotini Verde

I came home from my weekly massage to a dark, empty apartment.

*sigh*

In my experience, few things combat dark emptiness like carbohydrates. And there ain't no better kind of carbohydrate than cheap, white pasta. Just seeing the Kroger ad putting the Creamette on sale "10 for 10" makes me giddy.

Also helpful is cranking up some Kelly Clarkson - the carbohydrate version of a pop singer if ever there was one.

So, Rotini Verde is basically pesto pasta with every green veggie in my fridge on the verge of spoiling. Note how my use of the Spanish/Italian for green really classes the recipe up. Nobody wants to eat, "Rotini with Mostly Spoiled Veggies."

To begin, I chopped up, then briefly sauteed (in a garlic-infused olive oil I got for Christmas) a bunch of asparagus (all but the toughest end parts), a green pepper, a zuchinni, a yellow squash, a handfull of snow peas, and 3 big shallots. A pet peeve of mine is overly oily, soggy sauteed veggies. So because they take the longest I cook the onion/shallot and peppers first for a few minutes - and only until the onions just start to turn translucent. The other veggies I toss in and only cook until the peas and asparagus are bright green. Remove from heat and cover while the pasta is cooking to keep warm and to steam just a bit more.

Boil a box of rotini (or any kind of non-long pasta) according to the box. I'm a sucker for al dente. The less done everything in this dish is, the verde-er it tastes. Drain pasta and return to the pot (or put in a big pasta bowl if company's coming. Though, any kind of company that can't serve themselves from a pot, doesn't usually get a second invite to my place). Mix in the veggies and then three or four rounded tablespoons of my Pointer-Thumb-Pinky Pesto (so named because this pesto is so easy, you could make it lacking all but the aforementioned digits):

2 ish cups of fresh basil
3 heaping tablespoons of pine nuts (My roomie "borrows" 'em from work for me! If money's too tight for pignoli, you can use walnuts or slivered almonds but I don't guarantee the results )
2 tablespoons faux parmesan (I use the Galaxy Foods kind)
2 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 heaping teaspoons of shortcut garlic
1/2 cup olive oil

Blend up all the basil and slowly add the other ingredients by thirds. Once everything is in the blender, hit the switch and blend continuously on high for 45 seconds or so.

If you use it immediately, this is a very smooth and creamy pesto - better for sauce than for dipping. An overnight stay in the fridge thickens things up a bit, giving it a more tapenade-like quality. Also - depending on how salty you like your pesto, you can adjust the parm-to-yeast ratio. The more parm, the saltier it will be.

This was creamy, filling, and comforting. My life might suck without my roommate around, but good pesto certainly helps.