Pesto

[andrea_h]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a recipie for RED PESTO - as I can't buy the jars as they all seem to have Cashew nuts in and my husband has a nut allergy.

Also, has anyone ever made an italian dish called Strasapetti (sp?) - are there any measurements or do you just mix it to taste?......

All I know is - chicken, spring onions, red pesto, pasta & creme fraiche!

Thanks
A xXx

[Mortartube]

Just Google red pesto recipes and get loads. Here's the first one I found for pasta & red pesto.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/red pestopasta_71644.shtml

[andrea_h]

Thanks - I'll give it a go

A xXx

[crisgal]

could you give us a description of your strasapetti dish? I used to live in italy and love cooking italian food but i've never heard of it! I'm really intrigued!

[andrea_h]

Well, I'd never heard of it either - but my friends partner is a pasta chef so I don't know if they just made it up but it sounds yummy!

fry some diced chicken breast, in olive oil, add chopped sping onions and a good dollop of red pesto - continue frying until it is all coated but quite dry. Add some cooked drained pasta and stir in some creme fraiche until its all covered. serve and enjoy!

I've had a look around the internet and can't find any recipe vaguely similar so I think they may have made it up!

A xXx

[nickmo]

Hi andrea_h - just about the same : here from the British Turkey website.

To make a red pesto add sun dried tomato to a basil pesto recipe - the normal one uses pine nuts, but you can leave them out - one recipe here: http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Red%20pest o%20sauce

[maxi29]

Pine nuts aren't really nuts so they might be OK. However, the FSA does advise people with allergy to more than one type of nut to avoid them.

I think the dish is Strozzopretti (strangled priests). It's the name of a type of pasta, rather than the sauce so you'd need to know the full name of the dish to try to find a recipe.

[andrea_h]

Thanks.

The pine nuts are ok as he doesn't seem to be allergic to them but the jars of Pesto have Cashew nuts in aswell!!
Apparently I could substitute the pine nuts for sunflower seeds if it was necessary.

Thanks for the info about the Strozzopretti - looks like I'll have to ask for the name of the sauce too!

A xXx

[Mortartube]

Here's a recipe for Strozzapretti with Jumbo Shrimp

http://www.recipelink.com/ch/2004/november/fin edininglouisianastyle1.html

and a few others

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe /0,1977,FOOD_9936_12699,00.html

From what I can gather, the Strozzapretti is only the pasta part of the dish, and is traditionally small pasta dumplings similar to gnocchi. So you can add whatever meats and sauces to it, and it will still be Strozzapretti.

Happy cooking.

[CherryCola]

The dish you were talking about sounds like a pasta dish they serve at zizzi's (I can't remember its name, but the ingredients you described are it exactly). After eating it there I've looked for a recipie online but cant find one, so have just made it by trail and error. Its now a regular dish me and my boyfriend make; we've discovered mushrooms add an excellent texture to it, and frying the chicken with a little pesto before adding the remaining pesto and the creme freche gives an excellent taste to the chicken.