What do you eat with

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

What do you have with pasta and pesto to turn it into a 'proper' meal please? Other than having a salad on the side, I always struggle to know what to have with it. This time of year never makes me fancy salad. Don't say roasted courgettes/peppers/mushrooms etc because the dds won't eat them, even though that is exactly what I would have with it if I had my way!

Breaded chicken with roasted veg? Pancetta? Bacon? Scallops?

Agh - sorry: should have said that it needs to be veggie!

Garlic bread? I know it's more carbs but it is delicious!

One of my DDs' favourite meals is pesto and gnocchi with either broccoli or peas on the side, sprinkled with cheese. A bit odd, but easy to make and I figure it includes all the major food groups!

If we gave any leftover chicken I add that in, or sometimes ham.

Just noticed you're veggie sorry! If it's for you as well, sometimes for work I make pasta and pesto with cubes of feta cheese, sundried tomatoes and raisins mixed in. Sometimes olives or roasted veg too. It's very nice!

Olives cheese peas sweet corn cherry tomatoes

One of my DCs favourite meals is pasta & pesto with peas & sweetcorn.

How about cooking a couple of veggie sausages & chopping them up to stir in with the pasta? Or some grilled halloumi?

I thought pasta and pesto was a proper meal - it's what we had last night. Add a glass of wine .

Cheese is a given; garlic bread is a given whenever dp gets his way (I'm less inclined towards a carb-overload but he likes it!). My concern is the vege side of things. I just can't get my head around peas with it, I'm afraid. Not over-fond of tomatoes. Looks like it'll have to be salad anyway!

Sorry - by 'proper' I mean having some sort of vege with it. I am not Nigella and therefore feel the need to have vegetables with every meal!

Brocolli and cherry toms. It's heaven I tell ya! Oh, and crusty white bread to mop up the pesto. Yum

Quorn pretend meatballs
Broccoli
Green beans

My dad discovered pesto when I was a teenager (and a veggi). He used to add fried mushrooms and quorn pieces for me and fried mushrooms and bacon for the rest of the family.

Otherwise you could always make pesto out of other stuff so it felt healthy? Sundried tomatoes, goats cheese and pine nuts or rocket, blue cheese and walnuts both work. I'm going to try pea pesto later on this week and if it works then I think it might become a staple in our house with a few chopped cherry tomatoes (pea pesto - frozen peas, pine nuts and Parmesan/cheddar).

Sorry if you already know all of these already Remus - given the scrummy sounding food you've been posting on the veggi thread a gather you are quite a good cook!

Broccoli would work as both dds like it - I only like the 'posh' spear stuff but will deffo give that a try. In fact, broccoli, asparagus and feta sounds v tempting now I've thought of it!

The girls like those Quorn meatball things with a homemade tomato sauce, but I don't like them.

In fact pasta is a bit of a nightmare here because I'm fussy about tomatoey stuff and dd1 is fussy about creamy/cheesy stuff - and I love pasta so this is a bloomin' pain.

Could I do something with roasted butternut squash I wonder?

Thanks Monkey. I'm a reasonable cook but I am so, so bored of everything we eat right now: just do the same things over and over again.

What's wrong with Pesto and pasta as a complete course on it's own? offer them fruit and a yoghurt for pudding and it is a perfectly good meal.

You can always sprinkle it with a little toasted Wholegrain breadcrumbs or sesame seeds or steam some Baby Corn cobs or Mange Tout which most children seem to love. Toss in a little butter and there you go.

Steam or boil small cubes of Butternut Squash. Saute fine diced shallots and garlic in Olive Oil until soft then add the roasted Squash cubes, fry for 10 minutes or until crispy on the outside-

Then either:

1. stir into cooked pasta and add grated cheese for the cheese eaters and non for you;
2. Add to cooked Risotto rice, stir in grated Parmesan or Gruyere for the cheese lovers

Add a little piece of Sage for flavour garnish

Enjoy!

I'm also vegetarian and I eat pasta and pesto with leeks or broad beans or peas or mushrooms or add raw spinach/rocket/that kind of thing to the ready-made pesto and then blend it all up...

I'm having it with tinned sweetcorn tonight because it's quick and easy.

Garlic mushrooms

That sounds gorgeous, Mignonette. Thank you.

Love broad beans so will deffo try that too - sadly I am the only one in the house who will eat them though.

Google the Avoca Broccoli Hazelnut & Feta salad, think it would go down a treat with pasta & pesto.

Olives, cherry tomatoes cut in half, sundried tomatoes, peas, broccoli, watercress leaves or baby spinach leaves...

Any/all of the above with lots of parmesan and preferably some garlic bread.

Yum.

Pesto is from Genova as is my Dad. My aunties always cooked it with boiled potatoes and green beans in the sauce. And lots of bread obviously.
Carb overload. How Italian women stay slim is a mystery to me!!

The original recipe for pasta al pesto is from Liguria and would have potatoes and french beans.

Basically you boil diced potatoes and french beans and then pasta in the same water. Then dress with pesto and lots of pecorino.