Pasta with Tomatoes and Pesto (v)

I finally got round to watching some of the many, many episodes of Three Good Things I've had stacked up on my tivo box for the last few weeks, and in one of the episodes The Huge Furry Whipping Tool (as he is known in our house, Hugh FWS to everyone else...) made pasta with tomatoes and blue cheese. My boyfriend does *not* like blue cheese so I ditched that aspect and instead made some yummy pesto as my third thing. It perfectly used up some rapidly-going-past-their-best baby plum tomatoes that had been hanging round the kitchen for tooooooo long, and also allowed me to try out the Gourmet Garden, Fresh Made Easy basil and garlic combo in a fresh pesto. The verdict was deeeeeeeeeeelicious. Excellent.

For two people you need

2 tsp Gourmet Garden crushed garlic

1 whole tube Gourmet Garden chopped basil

2 tbsp pine nuts

salt and pepper

1/2 pack ripe baby plum tomatoes (or whatever tomatoes you have to hand)

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil

175g cooked pasta (I used shells to capture the sauce)

1 large handful fresh basil

Begin by marinating the tomatoes. Quarter them and chop into eighths if large, and place in  a bowl. Add 1 tsp Gourmet Garden crushed garlic, the balsamic vinegar, some salt and pepper and 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix gently and leave to one side.

Meanwhile heat a pan and gently toast the pine nuts till golden brown. Place 2/3 into a mini food processor bowl along with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp Gourmet Garden crushed garlic and the fresh basil leaves. Pulse for a few seconds till roughly combined. Add the tube of Gourmet Garden chopped basil and the remaining pine nuts and season to taste.

Cook the pasta and drain. Add the tomatoes and pesto and scoff down. Yum yum yum.