Lazy Girl's Saturday Night -- Pesto Pasta

What's a lazy girl to do on a Saturday night when her boyfriend is busy and she's too cheap to go out?  Why, make her own pesto pasta dinner of course!  I've been so obsessed with pesto recently for some reason -- today was literally the third time I've had it in the past 2 weeks.  I considered ordering take-out, but some of these dinners are so expensive!  Like 15-20 dollars per entree.  I'm in college!  That's not going to fly.  So, I decided to make my own pesto! 

I ran out to Murray Hill Market and picked up some basil, extra virgin olive oil, mushrooms, arugala, pecorino romano (they didn't have parmesan at the market) and...well, I was trying to save money but they had Jeni's Wildberry Lavender ice cream!  Totally worth the $9.99 a pint.  Anyway, I had some leftover walnuts from banana walnut pancakes I made last week and since I already have garlic powder, I decided not to buy fresh garlic.  I was really happy with the way it turned out!  It's not a traditional pesto recipe but it was delicious.  All of the pesto ingredients (basil, olive oil, garlic powder, walnuts, kosher salt, ground pepper, pecorino romano) were thrown into a food processor for about 5 minutes, then I sauteed the arugala and mushrooms in olive oil and tossed it all together with some whole grain penne pasta.  I heated a Cheese-filled breadstick and poured myself a glass of merlot and dinner was ready!

Breadstick, pasta and merlot



Close up of the pasta -- I might've gotten overboard with the cheese haha

 Not to lecture, but I was just so proud of myself with this pesto!  Walnuts and olive oil are amazing sources of vitamin E and omega fatty acids.  This meal has plenty of fiber and protein too.  I would definitely consider this a healthy luxury meal. 

And last, but certainly not least, Jeni's Wildberry Lavender ice cream!  This is my favorite flavor because I am an avid lavender fan.  Other flavors that I've enjoyed are the Riesling Pear, Salty Caramel and Dark Chocolate.  Most Jeni's locations are in Columbus...but, for all you Clevelanders out there, JENI'S IS COMING TO CHAGRIN FALLS.  I had actually considered applying to work there after graduation -- haha, a job is a job!



Delicious!!

http://jenisicecreams.com/index.html



Happy Saturday readers!