Pasta with Mint & Basil Pesto

You can make pesto with just about any herbs. I love this one that uses a mix of mint and basil. You can add sausage or chicken to make this more hearty.

Serves 2-3 as a main dish, 4 if served with chicken or another protein.

Adapted from NY Times Cooking. The photo is theirs.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds

• 1 pound short-shell pasta. I like orecchiette or campanelle

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving

• 1 cup fresh mint leaves

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves

• 2 garlic cloves, grated or finely minced

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• Salt & pepper

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1 lemon

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Instructions

1. Toast the pine nuts or almonds in a skillet over medium heat, keeping a careful eye on them so they don't burn. Set aside in a small bowl.

2. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as instructed on the package. Pull one cup of the water out before you drain the pasta and set aside.

3. While the pasta cooks, make the pesto. In a small food processor, combine parmesan, mint, basil, garlic and red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt until herbs are well chopped. Add the olive oil and juice from one lemon and swirl in the processor until it's a sauce-like consistency. Add a little water from the pasta pot if necessary to make it smooth.

4. Using the same skillet from the nut browning, sauté the cherry tomatoes until they're starting to release juices and shrivel (about 5 minutes).

5. Drain the pasta and put back into the pot. Stir in the pesto, adding some of the reserved pasta water to help loosen the pasta so the sauce distributes evenly. Fold in the cherry tomatoes.

6. Put some pasta on each plate. Top with a little more torn fresh herbs, parmesan and toasted nuts and a grind or two of fresh black pepper.