It's Food Revolution Friday

Who hasn't been inspired by Jamie Oliver? His show, Food Revolution, illustrated poor eating habits of our society with facts, passion and humor. His books are beautiful and each is so different. I get emails from JamieOliver.com and I "am a fan". The show may be over but the movement isn't. The email today unveiled Food Revolution Friday, get the recipe, make it over the weekend and comment on the community board. I love the concept. The enthusiasm and seemingly unending energy of this guy (team of assistants, or not) amazes me.

Of course, I had to check out The Food Revolution cookbook. In reading through, one of many recipes that struck me was the Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle. Not something I would typically be drawn to but....I had broccoli, pesto, a potato and a pound of pappardelle, a reasonable substitute. Dinner was on.


I love how the recipes in this book are presented. Easy to read, concise and written in his unique voice.


The broccoli stalks are used, which I love, since it's a shame to waste them. Thinly sliced stalks are cooked with the pasta and then the florets and potatoes are thrown in for the last two minutes of cooking. A one pan fresh pasta. I am in love.


The addition of one potato, which just happened to be floating around the potato basket, would typically strike me as weird. Starch in a starch usually turns me off but I was so sold on this recipe I chose not to skip it. It gave me a reason to use my mandolin, too! I have lots of pesto left in the freezer from the many batches I made last summer. It's so flavorful, I wasn't too worried about only having a measily half-ish bunch of basil.


To say that I enjoyed this meal is an understatement. It wasn't just that it was on the table in under 30 minutes or that I had all the ingredients for a spur of the moment meal. It was truly a wonderful meal and one I'll definitely make again.

Join the revolution - start with this.

Broccoi and Pesto Tagliatelle
The Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver

1 medium potato
1 head of broccoli
1 large bunch of fresh basil
sea salt
1# dried tagliatelle
1/4 cup green pesto
3 oz. parmesan cheese

To prepare your pasta:
Wash and peel the potato and cut it into very thin shavings using a speed peeler. Slice the end off the broccoli stalk. Cut the little broccoli florets off the head and put them to one side. Halve the thick stalk, then slice thinly. (I just sliced mine thinly) Pick the basil leaves and discard the stalks. Grate the parmesan

To cook your pasta:
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the tagliatelle and broccoli stalks and cook according to the tagliatelle package directions. 2 minutes before the tagliatelle is cooked, add the broccoli florets and potato slices. Drain everything in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water, and return to the pan. Roughly chop half your basil leaves and add to the pan with the pesto and half the parmesan. Give it all a good stir and if the sauce is too thick for you, add a splas of the cooking water to thin it out a bit.

To serve your pasta:
Divide the pasta between your serving bowls. Sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan and the remaining basil leaves. Serve with a lovely big bowl of salad.

Serves 4-6