Pasta with Goat Cheese and Basil Oil

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Basil Oil (Total Time: 15 minutes, Servings: 6-8)

Ingredients:

·         12 oz. cooked short pasta (gemelli)

·         2 cups fresh basil leaves + 1 cup additional (optional)

·         ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

·         4 oz. crumbled goat cheese

·         ½ tsp. kosher salt

·         ¼ tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1.     Cook pasta according to package directions.

2.      In a blender, puree olive oil and 2 cups basil leaves until smooth; pour through fine mesh sieve and discard solids.

3.      Toss pasta with basil oil, goat cheese, additional basil leaves (if using), salt and pepper.

First, I cannot take credit for creating this recipe; however, I cannot remember where I found it and I did not write it down.  That said, here’s my review.

I really enjoyed this dish and it is so simple to make.  I used penne instead of gemelli and it held the sauce.  I did not use the additional 1 cup of basil leaves, in fact, I think that 2 cups of basil is a bit much (maybe because my cups were somewhat tightly packed.  I recommend slightly less, maybe 2 cups lightly packed or 1 ½ cups.  My husband and I found that it needed a little garlic, so I also recommend adding 2 garlic cloves to blender when making the puree.  The goat cheese melts when you mix it in and it almost appears to look like grated parmesan on the noodles!  This recipe is an easy family meal  and pretty health, too.