nothing like a giant bowl of pesto pasta and ina garten to make me feel better

i've been having a pretty bad week. just not really on top of my game.. so today i decided that i HAVE to change this!

i did NOT im today at work ahhaha i know its pathetic that i do it but. how can you resist the temptation??

anyways. after working super hard today (i hope my bosses noticed) i got off at a different stop on the subway, went to fancy pansy 'provisions' to buy basil (incase my trusty associated was closed when i got home) and bought a thing of overpriced basil and overpriced parm. lol well it was fine. i got a free piece of yummy gourmet pork sausage out of it. (nothing like freebies to justify the overpriced food)

ok pesto!

price (about 12 bucks if your retarded and you shopped at the silly expensive gourmet store)

1 cup of basil (i used my whole bundle.. cut up to about 3/4 cup)
1/2 pine nuts
1+ tablespoon parmesan cheese (i had the crumbly kind..)

ok. since i dont have a food processor, i did this by hand. When Alvin was here and we made gnocchi (which he has yet to blog about because he fails). I do actually like hand chopped pesto.. and if youre not making alot of it.. its not that bad. its mainly cos the pinenuts are really chunky if you do it by hand.. and it realy gives the pest a good texture.

so.

- chop basil. I did this gradually. because if you try and chop all of it at once, it'll be messy
- add pine nuts. again, add this gradually, or you'll have rolling pine nuts
- add cheese! (if your a cheese lover, dont get tempted to add too much! You can always add more when you eat it!)

last time, we coudlnt find our parm, so we added gruyere. it actually tasted pretty good but the problem was the gruyere would melt when it got to the pasta and it was just messy. and then the pesto woudlnt mix and would just end up in lumps! (sigh)

anyways. hand chopped pesto is yum :D

i'm also cooking the base for some vichyssoise. I had left over leek from my ham and leek quiche and decided to make the most of the potatoes and leeks in the fridge :D

for vichyssoise you need:

- two big leeks
- two big russet potatoes
-1 cup of sour cream/heavy cream/ or 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 whole milk
- salt and pepper to taste

- chop, soak and drain leeks (most ppl recommend only using the white and light green part.. but i always feel bad about wasting food, plus green bits are always the healthiest! if youre like me, cut off spotty/wilting/too tough green parts and then chop. Put leeks in a large bowl and soak in lukewarm water and swish around so the dirt comes out.. why are leeks always so dirty?!)
- heat up pot, add a splash of oil and caramelize leeks
- add potatoes
- add approx 4 to 5 cups of water
- bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are soft.
- turn off heat and blend with hand blender
- add dairy and stir. the dairy all depends on how creamy you like it. My boyfriend really likes the tangy taste of sour cream. so we use sour cream and a splash of whole milk or heavy cream if we have it
- add salt and ground pepper to taste :D

WHY IS NYC SO COLD! SOMEONE SAVE ME.