Pesto Arrabiata Pasta

We love pesto sauce and the spicy arrabbiata sauce. So I thought, why not combine both ! The result turned out really awesome and we loved it! I din't have the patience to make the sauces from scratch, so this time I just used store bought sauces. Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Ingredients for sauce

De Cecco Pesto alla Genovese sauce - 1/2 bottle(i.e 100 g)

Napa Valley Bistro Arrabbiata sauce - 1/2 cup

Extra virgin olive oil - 1/2 cup

1 % Milk - 1/4 cup ( you could use cream instead to get a richer version)

Il Villaggio Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - 2 tablespoons freshly grated

Coarse crushed black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Cilantro - 10 leaves chopped coarsely

Other ingredients

Most vegetables go well with the pasta - Eggplant, squash, zucchini, celery, broccoli etc to name a few. You can use whatever vegetable you like. I used the following vegetables.

Carrot - 1/4 cup long thin slices

Shallots - 4-5 diced finely

Garlic cloves - 2 chopped finely

Jalapeño (with seeds removed)- 1/2 jalapeño chopped - Optional, add if you like a slight kick :)

Frozen petite peas - 1/4 cup (leave it out for a few minutes to defrost)

Green/Red/Yellow Peppers (your choice) - 1/4 cup long thin slices

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) - 4 tablespoons

Pasta shells (Barilla Rotini) - 1.5 cups

Procedure

1) Saute the vegetables

• Take about 4 tablespoons of EVOO in a pan on medium heat
• Add the chopped shallots, carrots, green bell peppers and jalapenos and saute for about a minute
• Add a sprinkle of salt (optional, as the sauce itself will have quite a bit of salt)
• Turn down the heat a low and add the garlic and petite peas and saute for another minute
• Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool down a bit

2) Prepare the sauce

We like the pesto flavor a lot. So I used more pesto to arrabbiata ratio. You can mix it in the proportion you like.

• Take a large mixing bowl for the sauce
• Put all the sauce ingredients - pesto sauce, milk, arrabbiata sauce, black pepper, cilantro, EVOO and cilantro and mix well
• Add the cooled down cooked vegetables to the sauce and mix again

3) Cook Pasta

• Based on the pasta cooking instructions on the package, take the required amount of water in a large vessel and bring it to a boil.
• Salt the water ( about 1/4 teaspoon) when it's boiling.
• Now add the pasta shells and stir occasionally.
• Cook the pasta till it's al dente. To check if the pasta is done, take out a piece and taste to see if it's cooked.
• When the pasta is done, remove the vessel from heat and drain the water from the pasta.

4) Mix and serve

• Take a skillet on low heat
• Pour the sauce and cook for about 30 seconds
• Add the drained pasta and blend it with the sauce
• Turn off heat and transfer to a serving bowl
• Add freshly grated parmesan reggiano and serve

Serving size - 2 ppl