31 dishes, 31 days – I’m cooking my way through Melissa Clark‘s “No-Sweat Cooking” from the August issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray
Pasta with pesto is a favorite this time of year, when fresh basil is so abundant most people can’t keep up with what their gardens are producing, but I have to admit I get bored with it sometimes. Melissa Clark’s no-sweat version has a couple of fun grace notes added in the form of crisp crumbled bacon and creamy ricotta – two additions that make this simple dish sing.
I made a couple of minor changes to the original recipe, using ribbons of zucchini instead of asparagus since that’s what we had on hand, and adding a spritz of lemon juice to the pesto for brightness. The dish came together in minutes and had a wonderful combination of textures and flavors – it was just what I needed after a long day at the office.
Get the recipe: Arugula Pesto Pasta with Ricotta and Bacon
Is this an official or purely-for-fun Raechal Ray promotion? Just curious…You know I’m a big fan of yours. I’m kind of gritting my teeth for a whole month of her.
It’s official – I’m linked out on her homepage now 🙂
I’m pretty psyched to see how it goes and Marie, these are actually Melissa Clark’s recipes, not RR’s. Melissa’s no Jen Hess, but her recipes are still pretty good. 🙂
Jen I’m also glad to see you’re already putting a gentle spin on some recipes: e.g. roasting your own chicken, subbing zukes for asparagus, etc.
I love the idea of this endeavor! I’ll be following you along for the ride 🙂
I made this recipe right out of the magazine. It was good, but we didn’t care for the asparagus. I love asparagus, but I didn’t like the ribbons of it. I will definitely try the zucchini next time.