Penne Pesto suggestions??

[Ferrante]

Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
sauce. I have a few questions.

I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
suggestions?

I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to the
finished dish. Would this be good or would another cheese be
better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but add a
little something extra this time. Anything else I should add
in place of the cheese?

Naturally the crusty bread and real butter will be there!

Thanks, Mark Ferrante

[Naomi Darvell]

x-no-archive: yes

Mark Ferrante wrote:

>
>Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
>sauce. I have a few questions.
>
>I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
>cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
>really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
>suggestions?
>

I think the best way to judge the amount is just keep
adding and tossing until all the pasta is *lightly* coated.
If the sauce is thick you might want to thin it with a
little of the pasta water. I am guessing you will not need
the whole jar.

>I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
>the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
>cheese be better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but
>add a little something extra this time. Anything else I
>should add in place of the cheese?
>

Do you mean ricotta cheese? If so, I don't think I would use
that. Too bland and dairy-tasting. You can't go wrong with
fresh-grated parmesan, in my opinion. (There may be parmesan
in your canned sauce already but a little more won't hurt.)
You might also add some whole pine nuts.


Naomi D.

[Peter Aitken]

"Ferrante" <manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1t7ee097maec7sfjjq69gm3pif9k6kst5o@4ax.com...
> Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
> sauce. I have a few questions.
>
> I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
> cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
> really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
> suggestions?
>
> I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
> the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
> cheese be better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but
> add a little something extra this time. Anything else I
> should add in place of the cheese?
>
> Naturally the crusty bread and real butter will be there!
>
> Thanks, Mark Ferrante

That seems like too much pesto for a pound of pasta. I
suggest stirring about half into the pasta then letting
diners add more to their plates as desired. Pesto contains a
good amount of cheese - I would not add more. A tomato salad
would be perfect addition, IMO.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

[Deacon]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 17:15:00 -0400, Ferrante
<manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
>sauce. I have a few questions.
>
>I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
>cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
>really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
>suggestions?
>
>I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
>the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
>cheese be better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but
>add a little something extra this time. Anything else I
>should add in place of the cheese?
>
>Naturally the crusty bread and real butter will be there!
>
>Thanks, Mark Ferrante

Personnally, I would avoid adding ricotta cheese and use
grated Parmesan (not from a jar, tube or bottle) or Romano
(again, grated fresh).

I have not seen a definitive rule on the amount of "stuff"
to add to pasta being set at a particular amount. I would
add the sauce gradually until it looks right...sorry I am
sure that doesn't help much.

[Sf]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 17:15:00 -0400, Ferrante
<manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
> sauce. I have a few questions.
>
> I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan
> on cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar?
> It really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz.
> Any suggestions?

I think an entire 10 jar of pesto is too much! Why don't you
try adding the pesto while your penne is still hot, so it
will coat them more evenly? Add it a couple of
tablespoonsful at a time.
>
> I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
> the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
> cheese be better?

I'm not familiar with riccoto.

> I want to keep the dish very simple, but add a little
> something extra this time. Anything else I should add in
> place of the cheese?
>
Roasted vegetables?

> Naturally the crusty bread and real butter will be there!
>
> Thanks, Mark Ferrante

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

[Andy Katz]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 17:15:00 -0400, Ferrante
<manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
>sauce. I have a few questions.
>
>I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
>cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
>really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
>suggestions?
>
>I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
>the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
>cheese be better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but
>add a little something extra this time. Anything else I
>should add in place of the cheese?

Try this: cook your penne in lots of very salty water. As it
cooks, if you have a 10 or 12" non-stick gently heat, oh,
about half the pesto, until it attains a creamy consistency.
If memory serves, Classico is fairly "grainy", less
emulsified than other brands. Drain the pasta, turn the heat
on the pesto down a bit more, then add a tablespoon or two
of heavy cream, mix it into the pesto to form an emulsion,
then add the penne, mixing it into the cream-pesto mix with
the heat still on low.

Check seasoning. Again, if I recall Classico correctly it's
not that heavily seasoned, so you can add salt and pepper.

For topping I'd skip the ricotta and go with some of the
excellent suggestions other readers have offered: Ricotta
salata (a very different animal), parmegiano, Romano, or
even some good, hard aged provolene, hand-grated.

Remember, there's parmesan in the pesto already, so you
don't need a lot of topping. Pasta/pesto dishes usually
benefit from simplicity.

Some restaurants garnish with a fresh basil sprig.

Andy Katz
*****************************************************-
**********
Being lied to so billionaires can wage war for profits while
indebting taxpayers for generations to come, now that's just
a tad bit bigger than not admitting you like the big moist-
moist lips of chunky trollops on your pecker.

Paghat, the Rat Girl

[Kalanamak]

sf wrote:
>
> On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 17:15:00 -0400, Ferrante
> <manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
> > sauce. I have a few questions.
> >
> > I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan
> > on cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole
> > jar? It really does not say how much to add. The jar is
> > 10 oz. Any suggestions?
>
> I think an entire 10 jar of pesto is too much! Why don't
> you try adding the pesto while your penne is still hot, so
> it will coat them more evenly? Add it a couple of
> tablespoonsful at a time.

I agree...stirring until you get a good greenish coating on
all. Don't want too much. Now then, is the Classico pesto
sause real pesto or is it a red sauce with pesto added, a
"non-traditional" way of doing things. I've never heard of
pesto being called sauce....a paste, not a sauce.
> >
> > I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese
> > to the finished dish. Would this be good or would
> > another cheese be better?
>
> I'm not familiar with riccoto.

Riccota Salata? The dry kind you grate? Or wet ricotta?

>
> > I want to keep the dish very simple, but add a little
> > something extra this time. Anything else I should add
> > in place of the cheese?

Toasted pine nuts? I've gone a craze recently of dry
toasting (their own grease comes out alittle) pine nuts in a
medium hot heavy iron skillet and rolling them in a bit of
smoked paprika before using them. blacksalt

[Ferrante]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 21:54:28 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
<paitken@CRAPnc.rr.com> wrote:

>
>That seems like too much pesto for a pound of pasta. I
>suggest stirring about half into the pasta then letting
>diners add more to their plates as desired. Pesto contains
>a good amount of cheese - I would not add more. A tomato
>salad would be perfect addition, IMO.

Sorry, I meant "ricotta" and not ricotto. I did find some
recipes on the Internet to suggested using Feta cheese. I
will do as you guys say and not use the ricotta.

The tomato sald sounds good. How do you make yours and what
kind of bottled dressing would be good with the Pesto dish?

Thanks, Mark Ferrante

[Ferrante]

Thank you and everyone else who offered me such wonderful
suggestions!

Mark

On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 01:11:28 GMT, Andy Katz
<amkatz@earthnospamlink.net> wrote:

>On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 17:15:00 -0400, Ferrante
><manthonyferrante@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Tomorrow I plan on having penne pasta with Basil pesto
>>sauce. I have a few questions.
>>
>>I bought a small jor of Classico Pesto sauce and I plan on
>>cooking a pound of pasta. Should I add the whole jar? It
>>really does not say how much to add. The jar is 10 oz. Any
>>suggestions?
>>
>>I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto cheese to
>>the finished dish. Would this be good or would another
>>cheese be better? I want to keep the dish very simple, but
>>add a little something extra this time. Anything else I
>>should add in place of the cheese?
>
>Try this: cook your penne in lots of very salty water. As
>it cooks, if you have a 10 or 12" non-stick gently heat,
>oh, about half the pesto, until it attains a creamy
>consistency. If memory serves, Classico is fairly "grainy",
>less emulsified than other brands. Drain the pasta, turn
>the heat on the pesto down a bit more, then add a
>tablespoon or two of heavy cream, mix it into the pesto to
>form an emulsion, then add the penne, mixing it into the
>cream-pesto mix with the heat still on low.
>
>Check seasoning. Again, if I recall Classico correctly it's
>not that heavily seasoned, so you can add salt and pepper.
>
>For topping I'd skip the ricotta and go with some of the
>excellent suggestions other readers have offered: Ricotta
>salata (a very different animal), parmegiano, Romano, or
>even some good, hard aged provolene, hand-grated.
>
>Remember, there's parmesan in the pesto already, so you
>don't need a lot of topping. Pasta/pesto dishes usually
>benefit from simplicity.
>
>Some restaurants garnish with a fresh basil sprig.
>
>Andy Katz
>******************************************************-
>*********
>Being lied to so billionaires can wage war for profits
>while indebting taxpayers for generations to come, now
>that's just a tad bit bigger than not admitting you like
>the big moist-moist lips of chunky trollops on your pecker.
>
>Paghat, the Rat Girl

[Sf]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 11:50:43 -0700, kalanamak
<kalanamak@qwest.net> wrote:

> I agree...stirring until you get a good greenish coating
> on all. Don't want too much. Now then, is the Classico
> pesto sause real pesto

I'm assuming she's talking about the green one. They call it
"Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce".... it even has pine nuts.

BTW: The consistency is very thick, but under the name of
the "pesto" (in tiny letters) it says "sauce & spread". It
tastes traditional, but there are a few untraditional
ingredients. They aren't fools. :)
http://www.heinz.com/jsp/classico_f.jsp

I was skeptical about Classico until I tried it, but it's
very good - and it's especially good when you don't want to
make pesto from scratch or bother with frozen. I use it
mainly on my pizzas, but I've used it in other dishes too.

> or is it a red sauce with pesto added, a "non-
> traditional" way of doing things. I've never heard of
> pesto being called sauce....a paste, not a sauce.

I have Classico sun-dried tomato "pesto" in my fridge right
now. I used it instead tomato paste as my "red sauce" the
last time I made pizza.

> > > I also thought of adding some crumbled riccoto
> > > cheese to the finished dish. Would this be good or
> > > would another cheese be better?
> >
> > I'm not familiar with riccoto.
>
> Riccota Salata? The dry kind you grate? Or wet ricotta?

She spelled it with an "o" at the end. I thought it was
something I hadn't heard of.

In any case, I've never had the opportunity to try it...
what's it like?

Practice safe eating - always use condiments