Meatless Monday via Curtis Stone – Fettuccine with Homemade Pesto

Welcome back for another Meatless Monday recipe.  The goal for the Meatless Monday movement is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”  This week, we’re sharing a delicious pasta recipe from popular Aussie chef, and recent Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Curtis Stone. 

FRESH FETTUCCINE WITH HOMEMADE PESTO
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 ½ bunches fresh basil leaves (about 1½ cups / 30g lightly packed)
4 oz / 115 g pine nuts, toasted
½ cup / 70 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
½ cup / 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup of green peas
9 oz / 255 g fresh fettuccine
1 oz / 25 g parmesan cheese, shaved (for garnish)

Method

To make the pesto:

1. Grind the basil, pine nuts and grated parmesan cheese with a mortar and pestle until a smooth paste forms. Slowly add ¼ cup / 50 ml of olive oil, grinding until a smooth sauce forms. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor instead.
2. Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cover the pesto and set it aside.

To prepare the pasta and serve:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat.
2. Add the fettuccine to the boiling, salted water and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking, about 2 minutes.
3. In another pot cook fresh peas and drain.
4. Drain the fettuccine, reserving about 1 ½ cups of the cooking liquid.
5. Toss the fettuccine and cooked peas in a large bowl with the pesto mixture in order to coat the fettuccine and peas with the pesto, adding enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten the sauce so that it coats the pasta evenly.
6. Using a two-pronged carving fork, swirl some of the pasta around the fork. Slide the pasta off the fork and mound it in the centre of a plate. Repeat for each serving.
7. Drizzle a little pesto around the edge of each plate.
8. Garnish with shaved parmesan cheese and serve.

And there you have it, a perfect meal the whole family can enjoy with a recipe from a gourmet chef. 
A quick update on the expanding Meatless Monday movement comes all the way from Japan:
“On April 26th, Japan became the latest country to embrace the growing Meatless Monday movement! Students at four of Japan’s Ivy League colleges – Keio University, Waseda University, Hosei University and Rikkyo University – are hosting monthly ‘Veggie Monday’ parties to encourage the country to try more plant-based options.”

To learn more about how you can support the Meatless Monday initiative, visit meatlessmonday.com.  Until next week’s recipe, bon appétit!