This is guest blogger Jennifer again.

Last night for dinner I tried Cooking Light’s ( December 2009) Antipasto Penne and Steamed Broccoli.  It was a quick and easy recipe and had lots of goodies in it.  My husband doesn’t really like store bought pesto and thought that overpowered the other ingredients.  You really have to be a pesto lover to like this one.  There are a few changes I would make next time – toss pasta in olive oil and basil instead of pesto, find sundried tomatoes that are just packed in olive oil and rinse them really well before putting in and make bigger chunks of the prosciutto. I will definitely make this again.  It would be a great potluck dish.

Antipasto Penne

Courtesy of Cooking Light

1  medium red bell pepper

1/2  cup  pitted kalamata olives, chopped

1/3  cup  refrigerated pesto

3  ounces  prosciutto, chopped

1  (7-ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained and chopped

1  (6-ounce) jar marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

8  ounces  uncooked penne pasta (about 2 cups)

1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided

1/4  cup  pine nuts, toasted

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 8 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 5 minutes. Peel and chop bell pepper; place in a large bowl. Stir in olives, pesto, prosciutto, tomatoes, and artichokes.

3. Cook the pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Add cooked pasta and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to bell pepper mixture, and toss gently to combine. Spoon about 1 cup pasta mixture into each of 6 bowls, and sprinkle each serving with 2 teaspoons remaining cheese and 2 teaspoons pine nuts.

Steamed Broccoli

Courtesy of Jennifer Hefford-Anderson

Steam one pound of broccoli and toss in lemon juice, olive oil and cracked black pepper

This entry was posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Pasta, Pork. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.