the simple things in life part 2

Continuing on my Alain Ducasse adventure comes 'light pesto' pasta.
This is an astonishingly simple recipe, it takes no time at all.
All you need is 4 peeled cloves of garlic, 20g of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 30g of pine nuts, 2 bunches of basil, 6 tbsp of water, 6 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
Cut the garlic cloves in half and remove the little green sprouty bit from the centre.

• Place 3 of the cloves (6 halves) into boiling water for 2 minutes.
• Put the remaining fresh garlic clove along with the blanched cloves, pine nuts, Parmesan and basil (I would recommend tearing the basil into pieces before bashing) into a mortar and pestle and combine to a traditional pesto consistency. (I cheated a little, I wasn't achieving the required consistency and so I abandoned the pestle and mortar in favour of my handy Cuisinart moulie).

• Add the water and olive oil, continuing to bash or blitz, as is your preference.
• season with salt and pepper, then put in a jar in the fridge to keep the flavours fresh. If you leave it on the bench the basil can loose it's 'ozone' (thanks Rick) freshness.

Meanwhile, put a pot of water on to boil, once boiling add plenty of salt then the pasta of choice (Alain uses pappardelle, but fettuccine or whatever) cooking according to the packet instructions.
While the pasta is boiling, toast 40g of pine nuts and then place on paper towel to cool.
Grate 20g of fresh Parmesan and set aside.
Drain the pasta and then put in in a large fry pan over medium heat and add a couple tbsp of the pest along with the extra Parmesan and pine nuts to heat the pesto through.
That's it, serve in the pan or on a platter.
yummo.

I served this pasta with a little salad of home grown mignonette lettuce, home grown cucumbers, and a little red onion, dressed with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a splash of olive oil.