Pesto Pasta

Pesto ingredients:

• Cup of chopped up fresh basil

• Half cup of fresh parsley

• ¾ cup nuts (walnuts, peanuts, pine nuts)*

• 2 cloves of garlic

• Half cup chicken/vegetable broth**

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• Pinch of salt

Other ingredients:

• Pasta

• Half a red onion

• 2 tomatoes

• 1 avocado

• Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender until you have a paste.

2. After you drain your pasta use the same pot and put a little oil or butter in it.

3. Quickly sauté your chopped red onions and tomatoes.

4. Turn off the heat.

5. Mix together the pesto, red onions, tomatoes, avocado, parmesan cheese.

This recipe is very versatile. You can add chicken, shrimp, or meat when you sauté the onions. I would suggest adding a little pepper and maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want to add the meat. You could also sauté some asparagus, spinach, or any other vegetable you might favor. I usually add more than one avocado because it costs about $2 for a kilo here in Chile (or 3 kilos for $2 depending on which guy you boy from). I’m pretty much living in avocado heaven. If you boil a whole bag of pasta you'll probably end up using about 3/4 of the pesto paste.

* Most pesto recipes call for pine nuts. I have yet to come across them in Chile so I just use whatever nuts I have in my pantry (usually walnuts and peanuts)

**You can also just mix half a bouillon cube with half a cup of hot water.