Pesto Pasta at Home

Yow guys n lads..2013 comin..let's start the year by cooking shall we.. :D This time I cook some pesto to go along with pasta..quite easy one..here are some ingredients that I use to made all this..

INGREDIENTS
- Pasta (any kind, I use buscatini for this one)
- a handful of basil
- salted roasted peanuts (no pine nuts, use "kacang kulit Garuda" instead,haha..)
- garlic
- cheese (use Bega Mild for this one)
- lime juice (lemons would be great, but I dont have any)
- salt
- black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- water

HOW
So this is how it works..first of all, as my usual way of cooking, no specific measurements in this recipe, use your instinct and feeling instead..
1. boil some water then fill them up with quite generous amount of salt
2. put your pasta in, cook as suggested in the package
3. while waiting for the pasta to be cooked, get a handful of basil leaf and put them in a food processor or blender, along with extra virgin olive oil(don't hesitate on putting the oil), peanuts, garlic, cheese, lime juice (just a little bit, just want some hint of freshness),salt and pepper.
4. blend them good, and your pesto are ready to be used, then set aside
5. after the pasta cooked, drain, put the pasta in a pan as also with the pesto
6. mix the pasta with the pesto well, and adjust the seasoning as your liking
7. put the pesto pasta in a plate, grate some cheese on it, add freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil for the finishing touch.
8. voala..it's ready to eat..you can eat them with any protein you like, I eat them with sausage n chicken tofu this time.

Is it easy?hell yeah, you only need about 10 to 15 minutes to made this..just don't be afraid, trust your instinct, and always taste to check if it needs any adjustment in the process. You can use the un-used pesto for later use, just keep it in the fridge.

Enjoy your experiment n happy new year.. :D

Basilico @Gandaria City

February 14..I think everybody knows about this date..aside from its controversy among Indonesians, this date mean something for me and Dita..and what it is?Secret...ahaha.. :p

Anyway, to celebrate this date we chose to go to Gandaria City..with so many restaurant choices, we decided to eat at Basilico..



This restaurant that's located at Ground Floor of Gandaria City is another Italian restaurant that apparently taken care by an Italian chef..His name is Michele..and we had an opportunity to talk to him in person later.



Upon our request of order, we served some Welcome Bread as we wait the order to be ready for us..nicely crispy exterior bread, but i find that the best part of this dish is the tomato sauce..taste like a homemade fresh tomato sauce..sweet and freshly sour..yumm..and interestingly, at the bill later stated that this are 2 orders of welcome bread, so when you come alone,you'll get 2 and when you come in three you'll get 6..he..



While waiting for our order, the drink came second..This is Basilico (35k IDR)..I forgot about the ingredients, but surely there are lemon juice, soda, and of course, basil.. :D Dita order a Cammomile Tea (23k IDR), it's a TWG Cammomile Tea (no pic, sorry :D )..



From all the pastas, i actually interested with his black spaghetti made from squid ink infused pasta, but it's not available at the time..so i order Spaghetti Alla Vongole (55k IDR)..nice al dente pasta, but unfortunately it's not working with the clams..
Later after we finished the dish, we had a chat with the chef who is surprisingly very nice and friendly and very willing to share what he knows about Indonesian qulinary world from his perspective, which I myself didn't know before..
Back to the vongole, we learned that the best season for Indonesian seafood is around March to April, so that's why the clams are small and not that tasty..we also learned that although Indonesia is an archipelago with mostly water, the seafood itself is not that good..even one of the well-knowned tuna exporters is from Indonesia, but locally consume high quality tuna is not easy due to that all the fish are for export purpose..to bad isn't it..
But still, the pasta itself is another different story, very good indeed.. :D



This is Capricciosa (79k IDR), one of Italian traditional pizzas..tomato, mushroom, cheese, artichokes, beef ham (replacement for ham)..also cucumber for the non-traditional thing (replacement for olives i guest, even it's very different from the taste).. :D Nice thin pizza..and again, what i like from this dish, is the sauce..fresh and delicious...the cheese is also good thought..yumm..



Overall, this restaurant offer a simple yet nice informal dining place with various Italian cuisines in Halal form (the chef told me)..there's also alcoholic drink available thought..

Yak..kenapa bahasan diatas pake Bhs Inggris? Itu gara2 abis ngobrol sama si chef nya, Michele,ho..setelah ngobrol2, ternyata emang orangnya ramah n baik hati..dia juga katanya sesekali suka ngasi daging import buat makan para staffnya gara2 dia concern about their habit of eating indomie all the time, which is very not good,oho..seperti yang kita tau, apalagi bagi para mahasiswa2 perantau, makanan wajibnya pasti Indomie or any other instant noodles..di beberapa tempat di Eropa, MSG aja di banned atau dibatasi, kalo disini mah dikonsumsi tiap hari yak..kasian otak kita sih sebenernya kalo dikasi MSG terus, bisa dungdung (bukan dugem ya,haha) lama2, ho..oke lah..mari kita coba minimkan makanan ber-MSG, walaupun itu enak, mudah dibuat, dan murah meriah, dan enak...aaaa..(dilema) Untungny gw makan MSG cuman dari mie instant doank sih, jarang bgt lagi, haha..

Will be back to try their seafood at best the season..he..ciao..

Btw, coklat di atas dikasi Dita..ihii..makasi ya de..jadi inget jaman baheula, the first chocolate box.. :p

Tau kah Anda ? bahwa tongkol dan cakalang itu adalah jenis Tuna yang banyak ditemui di Indonesia.. :D

Basilico
Gandaria City, Ground Floor Unit MG01
Jl. KH. M. Syafii Hadzani No.8
Jakarta
(021) 29053333