Cilantro Pine Pesto (For Spaghetti)

It all started yesterday night, i was too lazy and breaking my head thinking what to make for dinner, finally i picked a few things and ended up making this refreshing pesto, man oh man! it tasted out of the world. I was in such a hurry to take my final plating picture and can't wait to gobble the spaghetti . Pine nuts gave the pesto a fantastic texture and the crushed pepper flakes gives a nice kick. Also i ground the pesto a bit chunky and loved the crunch of pine nuts here and there in my bites. It hardly took 15 mins of my time to make it. When Senthil came home with his eyes and nose sniffing (as usual) the kitchen, the spaghetti didn't look very appetizing. Once he started eating, i heard mmm, mmm, mmm and lots of mmm. It was really funny when he sounded as if he knew everything in it. When i asked him to guess the ingredients, olive oil was the only one he said that was right. He couldn't believe that cilantro was the star, but trust me, if i hadn't prepared it, i wouldn't have believed it either. Forgot to mention this, today morning he came and asked for any left over spaghetti for breakfast. I gave him the bowl,  in a blink of an eye he cleaned the bowl, without any traces of it. So, you gotta try it and  here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cilantro (tightly packed)

1/4 cup roasted Pine nuts or (Macademia nuts or Walnuts or Almonds)

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil

1tbsp Lemon juice

1-2 Garlic pod 

1 piece ginger (1")

1/2tsp crushed Red pepper flakes

Salt

1/2lb Whole grain Spaghetti

1tsp Olive oil

Salt

How to:

• Bring water to a rolling boil in a sauce pan along with salt and olive oil, add the spaghetti, cook for 6-7 mins or until al-dente.

• Drain'em in a colander, saving 1/4 cup of pasta water.

• For Pesto, blend together all the 1st set of ingredients and check salt for taste.

• Mix the saved pasta water and the pesto, pour it over the spaghetti and mix well.

•  Serve warm with roasted brussels sprout.