Pesto is a staple for Northern Italian cuisine and a popular dish inside New York Italian-American households. This is a great meal for summer time because the sauce doesn’t require cooking – but we love to so much, we eat it about once a week.  For this recipe I used rotelle (meaning “little wheels” in Italian) shaped macaroni because I love the pesto chunks getting stuck inside the “wheel” of the pasta.  

2 cups of packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup of packed fresh parsley

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup pine nuts

3 tablespoons of grated pecorino romano cheese

1 clove of garlic

1 lb. rotelle pasta

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil.  (Don’t forget to throw a pinch of salt into the water to flavor the macaroni!)  Using a food processor, fit with the large blade.  Add garlic and chop until fine.  Add basil, parsley, pine nuts, cheese and olive oil and blend until smooth.  (About :30 sec.)  Set aside.  When the water is boiling add your rotelle and boil for about 8 minutes or until al dente.  Strain the macaroni using a colander and put macaroni back into original pot.  Quickly take the pesto sauce and mix into the rotelle.  Voila!  Serve with additional grated cheese.