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Italiano
Have you ever cooked something for your child and ended up eating that same meal for supper? I bet you did , we all do.
Well, luckily for me, my daughter has a great taste for pasta and she always loved larger shapes like penne or fusilli even when she hardly had any teeth to chew it.
Pesto is a family favourite in our household and the summer addition of juicy cherry tomatoes, mini mozzarella balls and sweet corn turn this recipe almost into a pasta salad, in fact it is often consumed at room temperature, especially when the room temperature is about 34 degrees!!
As a parent I also look more and more at the small prints of products, and to know that behind the brilliant Pastine Zero3 I use for my daughter there is an historic brand like Rustichella d’Abruzzo is very reassuring. For this recipe I used their Rigoletti (similar to fusilli) made with 5 different cereals, all farmed in Italy. Plus, their kids’ pasta often has a high percentage of fruits and veg pulp blended into the dough for added nutritional value.
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 30
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Categories: Pasta
Ingredients
300 g of Rigoletti Zero3
150 g of mozzarelline
150 g of cherry tomatoes
80 g of sweet corn
Basil leaves to garnish
For the pesto
30 g of basil
20 g of grated Grana Padano cheese
20 ml of extra virgin olive oil
5 g of toasted pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Start by preparing the pesto. Put all the ingredients in the jar of your blender or food processor. Blitz all together for about 30 seconds until creamy. Use it fresh or store your pesto in a glass jar for no longer than 2 weeks in the fridge.
Cook the Rigoletti in salted boiling water for 10 minutes until al dente (but not too hard, remember we are cooking for little toddlers ☺). Drain well, and dress with a few spoonfuls of pesto away from the heat, possibly in a separate bowl. If the pasta looks too dry, add a splash of pasta water and mix well.
Plate the Rigoletti in pasta bowls and garnish with colourful tomatoes, sweet corn and mozzarelline. The colourful look will make your child smile but the delicious taste will make anyone ask for more!
Recipe by Danilo Cortellini
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