Gluten-free Pasta with Easy Pesto Rustico

Celiac.com 04/03/2015 - Want to make one of the easiest, cheapest, tastiest dinners in the world? Try this brilliant pesto sauce.

The high price of pine nuts sent me scrambling for a pesto recipe that wouldn’t break the bank. This recipe delivers an easy, rustic, yet delicious take on an Italian classic.

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Ingredients:

• ½ pound gluten-free pasta of choice (I use Schar)
• assorted fresh vegetables, sliced and steamed
• 1½ cups fresh basil leaves
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• ½ tablespoon butter, as desired
• 4 ounces grated Romano cheese, as desired

Directions:
Roughly chop basil, and put into a small bowl.

Add garlic and stir in olive oil with a fork.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Allow pesto to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or so. Basically, I let it sit until the pasta and any vegetables are cooked and ready.

Clean, cut and steam vegetables, as desired.

Cook gluten-free pasta as per instructions until al dente. When done, strain, but do not rinse. Stir in butter, as desired.

Drizzle pesto over pasta and vegetables. Top with grated Romano cheese.

Traditional pestos mix the cheese into the sauce, but I find that for this version, it works better to add the cheese afterward.

Also, feel free to get creative with how you eat the pesto. You can drizzle it on some fresh chopped tomatoes and use top toasted gluten-free bread for a nice bruschetta.