Pesto Pasta and some Knitting

I'm always trying to come up with quick and easy suppers to satisfy fussy Husbands and sons . Usually I give in and make (home-made) fishcakes or chicken nuggets for the kids , unless I'm being really lazy and then its (supermarket) fish fingers or Willie Winkies (miniature sausages) , but Husbands tastes are a bit more cosmopolitan .

So for last nights supper , I bring you the cheats Pesto and Pasta , its basically a bit from Jamie Olivers' Italy book adjusted by me , and some filled pasta courtesy of Tesco Supermarket (yes I can make my own pasta , but the effort is too much for Sunday evening supper! )

Take a good few handfuls of Basil leaves , a tablespoonful of olive oil and some chopped garlic , and blitz in a blender/food processor . Keep adding more basil leaves until its a thick creamy consistency , and add some sea salt and ground pepper to taste .

Gently grill a handful of Pine Nuts (try not to eat too many or you find you need to grill some more - I love pine nuts) , then add to the basil mixture in the Blender. Blitz once more , but not too much , as you want a rustic roughly chopped effect (well I do anyway!)

Next grate a handful of the best Parmesan you can afford , the one from Tesco is lovely , not very strong, but still tasty . Mix this in by hand or spoon! Then , if necessary add a bit more Olive oil to loosen the sauce . I sometimes do this at the blending stage , but each to their own method .

Meanwhile the filled pasta is cooking in boiling water , I used wild mushroom tortellini (Tesco's own , again very tasty) for 2 mins - try not to overcook like I do , as it tastes much better done for 2 mins and no more .

Once its cooked, drain and return to the pan , and add some of the pesto , or put the pasta in dishes and add some of the pesto on top (how much you add depends on your taste , I love loads) .

You can then add some more Parmesan and pine nuts , and perhaps a little grilled sweet pepper strips .

Its an easy and tasty dinner and DS1 was eyeing it up , so perhaps no more mini pizza (again courtesy of the supermarket) for him!

All this culinary effort has affected the knitting too ! Got some lovely coffee for the knitting group girls who are coming on Wednesday , so just had to try it out today (don't normally make coffee at home , usually go to Cafe Flava)

So DH and I had a gorgeous cup of Coffee from our Cafetiere , and I thought , it would be good if the Cafetiere had a cover , then the coffee in it wouldn't go cold as quickly , and then I came up with this idea for a cover which started like this .....

And ended like this .....

Well its not quite finished , a bit of sewing up , a wee lace or two to be added for tying it around the Cafetiere and Bob's yer Auntie !

An easy piece of garter stitch and cable in Fyberspates space-dyed greens , or as I like to call it Pesto Greens! It even matches my green Denby mugs which are great for coffee - may have to make mug cozies too .