The Victorious Green Pesto Pasta

~ Green Pesto Genovese Instant Spaghetti ~

Pasta is our family’s favourite. We have it at least twice, if not three times a week. After we started making both our favourite types of homemade pasta sauce from fresh ingredients, we can never tolerate ready-made store bought pasta sauce, no matter how convenient they are within reach. We like to pair our pasta with Cheesy Chicken Mushroom Meatballs. They never fail making a wholesome meal for the family.

I would not claim that my pasta is authentic Italian taste and it may not be al-dente but they are certainly good enough for a quick fix with this commonly served staple of Italian origin. Many times, when Red Classic Tomato and Green Pesto Genovese battle to make it to our dinner table, Green Pesto Genovese made it.

I have always been cooking my pasta the normal way, i.e. boiling them in hot water for a couple of minutes, depending on the type of pasta I am cooking. I always got agitated with the foam built-up and spill over mess when a lid is put on for heat retention. As I am so used to the AMC Premium Cookware System where I do not need to be hovering around the kitchen hob but just an attentive ears for the beeping sound when food is ready, I often ended up cleaning the mess when spill over happens when I was not on a watchful eye!

Recently, a dear friend asked a brilliant question. She wanted to know how long the AMC Premium Cookware System cooks pasta from start. It normally takes her 30-40 minutes to get her pasta cooked. I was caught stunt as I have never really monitored the time spent for that. So, I thought it is about time for me to experiment a different way in my pasta cooking with the AMC Premium Cookware System.

In order to kill that curiosity, I tried using the AMC Secuquick Softline Lid for pressure cooking instead of the normal lid to cook the spaghetti. From the point I started boiling some water to cook the spaghetti to the point where the pressure is fully depressurised from the Pot covered with Secuquick Softline Lid, it took about 24 minutes. With the AMC system on automatic mode for boiling and to cooking, without having to lay an eye on the cooker hob in fear of spill over, I have stolen about 15 minutes to catch up wholeheartedly with the family members after a long day away from one another. So, do you still count 24 minutes in total cooking time? You decide.

Green Pesto Genovese Instant Spaghetti Recipe (Serves 3) :

A. Instant Spaghetti Ingredients :

250 grams Instant Spaghetti
1 liter Water
Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt

B. Green Pesto Genovese Ingredients :

30 grams Basil (reserve about 4 leaves for garnishing)
50 grams Pine Nuts (reserve 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts for garnishing if desired)
100 grams Parmesan Cheese (and/or Cheddar Cheese)
2 cloves Garlic
5 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

AMC Convenient Cooking Method :

Pour water into an AMC 24cm 5.0 liter Pot unit. Add olive oil and salt to the pot and bring water to boil on Nevigenio with heat level “6”. Turn on Audiotherm, place on knob, indicating “Meat Window” and turn off Navigenio when Audiotherm beeps for the second time at 90°C. Remove lid.
Add instant spaghetti into the pot unit. Cover pot with the AMC 24cm Secuquick Softline Lid. Switch on Navigenio to automatic “A”. Turn on Audiotherm, place on knob, indicating “Soft” setting and set P Program to cook for 20 seconds.
When Audiotherm beeps, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm. Move pot away from the Navigenio to stand on an upturned Pot Lid.
After pot sit to depressurised for 5 minutes, let cold running water run down the Secuquick Softline Lid for a minute to bring down the pressure quicker.
When pot depressurised, shake pot at the handles before removing the lid and drain the spaghetti with a Colander unit.
Blend all ingredients B with an AMC Quick Cut or a food processor until smooth to make Green Pesto Genovese. Pour the Pesto sauce and instant spaghetti into the Pot unit and mix well. Tear the basil into pieces for garnishing.

Tips : When cooking pasta with the Secuquick Softline Lid, the pot SHOULD NOT be depressurised with the yellow pressure release knob on the lid. Hot cooked food could leak and the danger of scalding may occur. The valves of the Secuquick Softline Lid could become badly soiled. Simply remove pot away from heat source and let depressurised on its own or let cold running water run down the lid until pressure subside.