Basil Pesto and Goat Cheese Pesto Pasta

I have a ton of basil in my garden and that makes me very, very happy.  It smells and tastes AMAZING.  I also have tons of different types of tomatoes coming up.  I get kind of flustered and feel like I need to use all of my garden produce really quickly, all at once, so I decided to make something with both basil and tomatoes.  I've never made my own pesto, so I decided to give it a try.  I used Pioneer Woman's recipe, except I didn't have access to [expensive] pine nuts, so I used walnuts instead.  Here is the recipe I used:

 

Pesto

§  3/4 cups Fresh Basil Leaves

§  1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

§  3 Tablespoons Walnuts

§  2 cloves Garlic, Peeled

§  Salt And Pepper, to taste

§  1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

       Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, walnuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed.

 

After making the pesto I added it to 1 pound of cooked wheat penne pasta, with about 2-3 ounces of goat cheese and a couple handfuls of fresh-from-the-garden cherry tomatoes.  I mixed it all together with a little splash of milk.   It was SERIOUSLY SO GOOD!!!  I loved it.  Will definitely make it again soon. 

 

Goat cheese rocks my world.

 

Goat Cheese "Thumbprint" Cookies, with Blueberry Jam Centers

I love goat cheese and I had a block of it I needed to use so I started researching goat cheese in baked goods.  I found this recipe for goat cheese cookies & knew I had to try them.  They were FABULOUS!  The goat cheese made them so soft and delicious - and you can't taste actual goat cheese, in case you don't like it and are worried.  I loved these & will definitely make them again.  Here is the recipe!  I also put too much dough and pressed the cookies down too much on the cookie sheet so mine didn't turn out very "thumbprint"-like, but still tasted great.

Blistered Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese Pasta

This is a new favorite pasta recipe... it is SERIOUSLY easy, so flavorful and delicious.  I love it!!!  Here is the recipe:  YUM!

Whatever-I-Had Pizza

Pizzas are so easy to make because you can use whatever you have lying around the kitchen.  This was a very fast meal to make & sometimes that's just how meals have to be.

Last night I used:

Store-bought Pillsbury pizza dough - sprayed with olive oil on a greased baking sheet
Goat Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Dried Basil
Canned shredded chicken

I baked this for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Then I added:

Baby Spinach
Red Grapes - halved

It turned out delicious and took about 20-25 minutes total.
I love the versatility of pizza!

Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Zucchini and Goat Cheese

I have made the original version by Pioneer Woman once before and loved it.  This time I wanted to make it with basil instead of parsley and goat cheese instead of feta.  So here's the recipe the way I made it (with very minimal changes from the original):


12 ounces Farfalle (bowtie) Pasta
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 whole Lemons (more To Taste)
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 whole Zucchini, Cut Into Small Wedges Or Diced
10 ounces Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
1/3 cup Minced Fresh Basil
6 ounces Crumbled Goat Cheese


Cook pasta until done. Drain and rinse in cold water until completely cool. Add olive oil and lemon juice, then add salt and pepper to taste (do not undersalt). Toss to combine. Add zucchini, tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese, and toss to combine. Add more of what you think it needs. Squeeze in a little more lemon juice/drizzle more olive oil if it needs more moisture.


Cover in plastic wrap for at least a couple of hours to chill.

I used a fresh zucchini, fresh cherry tomatoes and basil all picked straight from my garden.  WONDERFUL!  I love, love, love this pasta salad.  It's so lemony and cheesy and fresh.  

Goat Cheese, Chicken & Tomato/Basil Quesadillas

Last night I wanted to make something fast, easy, and with ingredients I already had at home.  The result was:

Goat Cheese, Chicken, Tomato and Basil Quesadillas


Burrito size tortillas
Goat cheese
Canned chicken
Thinly sliced tomatoes
Chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Butter

Mix one can of chicken with the garlic salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet to medium high.  Butter one side of a tortilla.  Smear as much goat cheese as you'd like on the other side of the tortilla.  Add chicken on top of goat cheese.  Add as many thinly sliced tomatoes and fresh basil as you'd like.  Put in skillet butter side down and cook until the butter turns the tortilla nice and golden brown.  Fold in half and enjoy!  You could obviously butter two tortillas and put one on top and flip the quesadilla so both sides get brown and delicious - but the tortillas I used were 200 calories per one and I didn't really want to eat 400 calories worth of tortillas last night because lately my booty is jiggling a lot and I'm saving my calorie frenzy for fried food at the State Fair (which is really going to help with the booty issue).

My husband said this was "amazing".  I am beginning to think he just says that every time he eats though.  These were definitely nice to just throw together and they incorporate some of my favorite things in life... tortillas, basil, goat cheese, tomatoes.  Delicioso!