This is a dish I recreated based on a meal I had in Boppard, Germany on my recent holiday. After a few days in Germany I was starting to turn into a sausage..

so went for something a bit different on the lunch menu. I ordered “Penne noodles?! with wild garlic pesto rocket, and fresh parmesan. Bad translation of pasta I hoped.

The dish I got was really nice and one of the best things I ate over my 2 week tour of Europe and I did not expect I would find it here! When the dish arrived I was glad that it was actually pasta and not some strange noodles, smothered in garlicy pesto, toasted pine nuts and a few roasted cherry tomatoes which really made the dish. I decided then that it was one to tweak at home!

The original dish

Ingredients – serves 2

Penne or Tagliatelle
3 tablespoons of Wild garlic pesto – I wanted to make this myself but where one buys wild garlic from in Ashton under Lyne I have no idea! I made do with this;
Wild Garlic Pesto
10 Cherry Tomatoes 
1 heaped tablespoon pine nuts
2 large garlic cloves finely sliced
Parmesan shavings
Rocket
Olive Oil

Coat the tomatoes in a little olive oil and salt and roast in the oven until they start to split then put aside.

While these are roasting get the pasta on to cook in salted water until al dente.

Toast some pine nuts in a dry pan until they start to go a little darker then set aside.

Fry the garlic in some olive oil in a large frying pan on a low heat so it doesn’t burn then add the pesto and cook for a few more minutes. When the pasta is done toss it into the frying pan and mix together well. Check seasoning and add salt if necessary.

Serve the past up in 2 large bowl, sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and scatter the cherry tomatoes on top with a handful of parmesan shavings then top with rocket and drizzle with a little olive oil.

The original dish had grated parmesan on top which you could do but I prefer the shavings as it adds more texture to the dish.

Great dish for non meat eater and meat eaters alike!