Nourish the Budding Lotus

Pasta with Almond Tomato Pesto Sauce

Tonight I flipped through old photos of my dear friends from Florence and smiled remembering all of the great times we had together.  Considering it was Italy, a lot of the fun involved good food, and social gatherings.  Living in Florence was a great influence on my life in so many ways and I don’t think I could have left without having a new culinary approach.  No one understood how I could be vegetarian in Italy…but surprisingly I met other vegetarian/vegans in Italy too.  These friends opened my eyes to new exciting directions.  My friend Tracey was passionate about spinach and green beans, and thanks to her, they became staples of my diet as well.  She even taught me how to make roasted chickpeas…delicious!

My friend Joslyn introduced me to so many new recipes and shared beautiful meals with me.  I was always excited to join her for a dinner party.  One recipe I loved was her Fennel and White Bean salad…so easy and so good!  Eventually she introduced me to the recipe below for Pasta with Almond Tomato Pesto Sauce.  It came from an Italian cooking magazine called Cucina Naturale which I eventually bought every issue of.

My dear friends from Italy, I am sending you love and hoping that we can gather around the table again soon to share good food and life stories.

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Pasta with Almond Tomato Pesto Sauce

6 medium ripe tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 small pepperoncino
1 bunch of fresh basil
1/2 c almonds
1/4 c fresh parsley
1 package of brown rice pasta
olive oil
salt and pepper

Wash the tomatoes and dice 4 of them into small pieces, cutting the other 2 into larger pieces.

Peel and mince the garlic as well as the pepperoncino.  Remove the basil leaves, wash the leaves and dry them.

In a frying pan heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes and then add the 4 diced tomatoes and salt to taste.  Cover and cook on a low flame for 4-5 minutes.

Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast them in the oven at 350 F for 8 minutes.  Once toasted, let them cool.

Once the almonds have cooled place them in a food processor with the 2 chunky tomatoes, a dash of salt and the basil.  Blend the pesto finely.

Cook the pasta following the instructions on the package.  Once drained, add the pasta to the sauce in the pan and add the almond pesto.

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