In the Kitchen- Basil Parmesan Pasta

Basil Parmesan Pasta

Today I made a really easy pasta dish that the kids devoured. I'm talking, they wanted 2nds of this over applesauce(unheard of!). Here are the simple steps:

1. Prepare any kind of pasta you want to use. I like to use the smaller ones for the kids, easier for them to eat. In this case I used the small shells and they loved putting them on their fingertips to eat. Put a little olive oil or butter in the bowl to keep the shells from sticking.

2. Chop fresh basil into thin strips. The amount depends on your taste and the amount of pasta you are preparing. For a 8oz of pasta I used a dozen leaves. It is easiest to stack them and cut them that way. Just add it to the prepared pasta.

3. Add fresh grated parm. cheese. Using the can variety? Don't. Ick. Toss it! Once you try the real stuff you'll never go back. The amount depends on your taste and amount of prepared pasta!

4. Optional, add shallot salt from Penzey's Spices. Oh Penzey's, how I love thee, let me count the ways... Shallot Salt was a new one I picked up to try with my birthday gift card. Yum. I think I used about a 1/2 tsp.

5. Optional, add ground pepper.

6. Optional, add bacon. Or you could probably throw a bean in there instead(black or white?). I just like bacon. I used 2 prepared strips and chopped them up.

That's it! Easy peasy. And basil fresh from your garden is also easy. But we'll talk about that In the Garden another time!