Artichoke Pesto Pasta

Submitted by Acerast

"Here's a unique pesto made with artichoke hearts. We make the pesto on the weekend, bring it to room temperature, and toss it with hot pasta for a quick weeknight meal. It makes a great side dish too with chicken, steak or fish. From Sunset's "Kitchen Cabinet" (submitted by Kathryn Murdock of Moss Beach, CA)."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup pine nuts
• 1 (14 ounce) can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained
• 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1⁄4 cup onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3⁄4 - 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lb fettuccine

directions

1. In a skillet wide enough to hold them in a single layer, toast the pine nuts over medium heat, stirring often, until golden (3-5 minutes).
2. Pour pine nuts into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a food processor or blender, combine artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, onion, Dijon mustard, garlic, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup vegetable broth.
4. Process until purèed.
5. In a 5-6 quart pan, cook fettuccine according to package directions until just tender to the bite.
6. Drain pasta and return to pan.
7. Over medium heat, at 1/4 cup vegetable broth to pasta.
8. Using 2 forks, lift and turn pasta until broth is hot (about 30 seconds).
9. Pour artichoke pesto over pasta.
10. Sprinkle with parsley, pine nuts and red pepper flakes.
11. Mix gently.
12. Add remaining broth if seems dry.

Reviews

[Maito]

This was really good! I did modify it based on the previous reviewer. I left out the cream cheese, mustard and nutmeg. I also used a lot more parsley and just a sprinkling of fresh parmesan at the table. I accidentally doubled the red pepper, but it wasn't too spicy. We thought you could taste the artichokes really well with this combination. I used about 25% more pasta to feed 6. The amount of sauce was still ample. We will definitely be making this again!

 

[3KillerBs]

Unusual, yet easy to make. Tasting the pesto alone, the mustard is overpowering, but when the nuts, parsley, and red pepper flakes are added the flavors come into balance. The only thing keeping is from being a 5-star recipe is the way these stronger ingredients overwhelm the delicate flavor of the artichokes. My 14yo said, "I thought you were making something with artichokes," -- its really hard to taste them at all. I substituted walnuts for the pine nuts I can't afford and used chicken broth because I didn't have any vegetable broth. After the initial tasting I added a cup of cooked chicken. Another time I will leave out the mustard, increase the parsley, and heat the sauce in the microwave because it took a long time on the stove and wanted to scorch on the bottom of the pan. Note: The amount of pasta was not specified. The batch I made coated a pound of rotini enough to suit our tastes because we like it just coated, but if you like your pasta dripping with sauce it would not be adequate for a pound.