Spaghetti with Parsley Pesto

Cover Story!

I cooked the cover, southern style!  Today, I am joining the cult following, of cooking the cover with bon appetit magazine. For the month of June, cook the cover goes to...drum roll please... Spaghetti with Parsley Pesto.

As everyone already knows, it's impossible for me to stick to any recipe. I decided my plan of attack for cooking the cover was to take the recipe and "creolize" it.

Substituting roasted pecans (it's a southern thang) for the roasted almonds, green onions instead of chives, a few of my favorite creole spices and some Tabasco, yes, hot sauce people!

And to top it off, I chose the ultimate in Italian cheeses, parmigiano-reggiano.

This pasta looks and taste great, bon appetit people!

Spaghetti with Parsley Pesto
adapted from bon appetit

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti
2 cloves garlic
4 cups Italian Parsley, washed, drained
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano 
1/2 cup pecan, roasted
3/4 cup green onions
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon Tabasco
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 lemon, zested, juiced
pasta cooking water

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions, reserve cooking liquid to thin sauce.  In a blender, add pecans, chop finely, add garlic, cheese, green onions and parsley, pulse. Add seasoning, lemon zest and juice.

While pulsing, drizzle in olive oil to emulsify the pesto. Set pesto aside while the pasta cooks. Remove pasta from water, drain, rinse pasta in hot water, drain again. Place pasta in a large bowl, top with pesto sauce.

Toss pasta and pesto , add about 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water, toss again. Add more pasta cooking water if desired. I used a total of 1/2 c. of pasta cooking water. Serve with extra parmigiano-reggiano.