The Frugal Kitchen: Lemon Artichoke Pasta

An easy dinner made even simpler by the fact that the pesto sauce can be made in advance.  All of the ingredients are easy to find and reasonably priced.

Ingredients
1/4 cup cilantro
6 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 - 1/4 cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup canola oil
Salt to taste
8 oz. package frozen artichokes, quartered
1/2 cut parmesan cheese, grated

Old Reliable At Work Again

Directions
Place first 8 ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.  Cook pasta according to package directions; add artichokes for the last 5 minutes.  Drain, but hold aside 1 cup of the pasta water.
Pour pesto into large bowl.  Stir in pasta, artichokes and cheese.  Thin sauce with some of the pasta water if needed.  Garnish (if you wish) with more cilantro and parmesan.

Finished Pesto

This is a great dish with pleasant mouth feel and subtle flavors.  Except the garlic; you may want to cut down on it if your family doesn't like alot of garlic.  Tastes rich and creamy.  Do use the garnish as it can look pretty plain on the plate.

Sob!  So Plain

God bless,
Pam