Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

Pasta is one of my major cheat meals. I hardly ever make it and usually when I do it's whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, no fattening cream sauces even though they're my favorite. Every so often though I just have to have some and my go-to for the best cream sauce recipes is hands down The Pioneer Woman. I have all of her cookbooks and while perusing her second one found this recipe for pasta with pesto cream sauce. Drool.

This recipe is so incredibly easy with a really fresh taste from the homemade pesto. To make it you will need:

3/4 cups of fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons of pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup of EVOO
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of butter
12oz of pasta (choose whatever pasta you like, however I find this works best with bowties, fusilli, cavateppi, etc.)
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
2 diced tomatoes

To start, cook your pasta until al dente. Easy enough. Next prepare the pesto.

Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper, and garlic cloves to food processor and blend while slowly pouring in the olive oil. You want a consistency where everything is mixed bit it's not too runny or grainy. You can add in more olive oil if you need it.

Heat your cream and butter over medium heat, then pour in the pesto. Finally add in the remaining 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan.

Drain your pasta and place it in a serving bowl or wait until your finished making your cream sauce and add it in, which is what I did. Stir in the tomatoes and any protein you might want (I added in cooked chicken breast) and serve hot!

I ate every last bite of mine and there was a ton left. However, someone in my house is a bottomless pit and ate the rest before I could get any more :( But at least I knew it was good!