For any of you who know me personally, you will have gathered that from the start of uni my go-to meal has always been pesto pasta. It’s literally the quickest meal to make as you only need to boil the pasta, fry some veg then stir in a bit of pesto! But recently I’ve inevitably gotten a bit bored of this classic meal and I wanted to see if I could shake up this pasta meal that makes a weekly appearance.
I was browsing the web and came across a recipe using Philadelphia as a sauce so thought I would give that a try. As always, I never followed the recipe (I always deviate from the instructions anyway lol) so I only used the Philadelphia aspect as an inspiration and made the rest up as I went along! I thought it tasted fab so continue reading to find out how I made it…
Note: My mum and sister came up to visit me and we went on a food shop which explains the extravagance of the smoked salmon! If you’re parents aren’t visiting you and want a cheaper alternative I would recommend adding feta cheese/goats cheese instead as a tasty veggie alternative.
Ingredients (serves 1)
100g dried wholegrain penne pasta (linguine would also taste good too)
2 slices smoked salmon sliced or 20g goats cheese/feta
1.5 tbsp Philadelphia cream cheese garlic and herbs
1 tsp coconut milk (or any other milk inc. cow’s)
Veg of your choice (I kept it simple and used thinly sliced courgette)
1 tbsp pesto
1 tsp olive oil (plus a little extra for the end)
1 tsp Parmesan cheese grated(optional)
1 tsp herbs and black pepper (I used dried mixed herbs and garlic salt)
Method:
- Boil a large pan of water filled half way and once boiled add dash of salt
- Add the pasta and leave it on a medium heat for about 8-10 minutes
- Meanwhile heat up a frying pan, add the tsp oil and fry the veg until tender
- When the pasta and veg are almost cooked, mix the cream cheese and milk in a microwavable bowl and microwave for about 1 min (stirring half way)
- Drain the pasta, drizzle a little olive oil (this will help the cream sauce coat the pasta) and add the cream sauce.
- Add the pesto, fried veg, smoked salmon, and Parmesan cheese
Enjoy! Let me know if you try out the recipe in the comments section below and add any alterations you make!
Andri x