Pesto Surprise Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; rinse with cold water and drain.
• Prepared zesty Italian dressing according to package directions.
• In a large bowl, toss together pasta, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, green olives and cheese. Pour dressing over all, add pesto, and stir until evenly coated. Refrigerate or serve immediately.

Steps:

• Pulse pine nuts in a food processor until they're completely broken down. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula from time to time. Add olive oil and garlic and pulse until garlic is finely chopped.
• Chop basil very roughly - just run a knife through it once or twice to cut most of the leaves into halves or thirds - then add to food processor. Pulse, stopping every 15 seconds to push the leaves down with a rubber spatula, until basil is entirely worked into the oil. Pulse for another few seconds, and then stop to prevent turning the basil brown.
• Pour pesto base into a bowl and add grated cheese and salt. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Leave the sauce thick to toss with cooked pasta and a little pasta cooking water. To use the pesto as a garnish for grilled or roasted meats, fish and vegetables, thin it out with 2 to 3 more tablespoons olive oil until it's the consistency of a loose paste. To store leftovers, pour a little more olive oil over the pesto to cover. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.

Steps:

• Preaheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 (2 1/2-inch) muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.
• Combine flour, 2 tbs. cheese, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine milk, oil and egg in a small bowl; stir until blended. Stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Do not overmix. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling one-third full. Stir pesto sauce; spoon 1 teaspoons sauce into each muffin cup. Spoon remaining batter evenly over pesto sauce. Sprinkle remaining 1 tbs. cheese evenly over batter.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpicks inserted into centers come out clean. Cool in muffin pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack 10 minutes.