Garden Vegetables with Pesto

GARDEN VEGETABLES WITH PESTO

This is a light summer meal that uses fresh produce from the garden and has a very satisfying flavor. If you are lucky enough to have fresh basil, prepare a pesto sauce a day or two before fixing this dish. The recipe can also be made with pesto purchased from the store. Note: these nearly always contain cheese.

Pesto can be made in a variety of ways. The most common ingredients are pine nuts, fresh basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil. 

Fresh basil is a little hard to measure in a cup; 30 – 40 leaves is usually about right. One-half cup of pine nuts, two cloves of minced garlic, ¼ cup grated Parmesan*, and ¾ to 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil will probably work well. Put these things in a blender and puree them. You will need about one cup of pesto for this recipe.

6 or 7 summer squash – zucchini and yellow crookneck
4 Tomatoes
4 or five small scallions
Salt/pepper
Olive oil
1 cup pasta
½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese*
1 cup pesto sauce with a pinch of dill added.
Fresh chopped basil for garnish

* Leave the cheese out for a dairy free dish.

Wash and cut up the squash and slice the scallions. Saute these over a medium low heat in a large pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper. While they are cooking cut four tomatoes into thin slices and cook one cup of regular or quinoa pasta.

When the squash mixture has cooked for about 10 minutes, lay the tomato slices on top of the vegetables and cook gently for another 10 minutes. This will allow the tomatoes to steam.

Drain the pasta when it is cooked; layer it on top of the cooked vegetables. Pour the pesto sauce over the pasta; sprinkle the grated cheese over the pesto. Mix all of the layers together very lightly. Serve garnished with a few chopped basil leaves. This fresh and tasty dish can also be served as a cold salad.

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