Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
* 1 medium potato
* 1 head broccoli
* A large bunch of fresh basil
* Sea salt
* 1 pound dried tagliatelle (I couldn't find this pasta, so I used fettuccine...it looks similar)
* 1/4 cup green pesto
* 3 ounces Parmesan cheese
Wash and peel the potato and cut it into very thin shavings using a speed peeler. Cut little broccoli florets off the head and put them to one side. Halve the thin stalk lengthwise, then slice thinly. Pick the basil leaves and discard the stalks.
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the tagliatelle (or fettuccine) and broccoli stalks and cook according to the tagliatelle package instructions. Two minutes before the the tagliatelle is cooked, add the broccoli 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 of your basil leaves and add to the pan with the pesto and half of the Parmesan. Give it all a good stir and if the sauce is too thick for you, add a splash of the cooking water to thin it out a bit.
Divide the pasta between your serving bowls. Sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan and the remaining basil leaves. Serve it a lovely big bowl of salad.

I really enjoyed this recipe, and it was very easy and only took about 20 minutes. The combination of broccoli and pesto was delicious! My husband liked it too. It's always a good sign if he likes it! My mother in law and 9 year old nephew had some leftovers, and they liked it too! I thought it was kinda weird to put a potato in pasta, but it really added a good touch. I agree with Jamie's reasoning for it...it adds 'creaminess and texture'. I recommend this one!

Again, I bought all the ingredients at Walmart:
Broccoli and potato - cheap, I don't know exactly how much, probably about $1
Basil - (FRESH, not the dried spice) $2.88 (I usually grow my own basil, which of course would be much cheaper. You could probably buy a plant for about $3 or $4, then you'll have some for more cooking later...i just bought Basil plant seeds for $1)
Fettuccine - $1
Pesto - $1.98 (I only used half the jar...so more for something else)
Parmesan cheese - I bought a 6oz jar of grated Parmesan for $2.98. Definitely don't use the Kraft powdery kind, that doesn't taste as fresh and it has preservatives. I only used half the jar, so I have more for something later.
Total = $9.84 or $2.46-$1.64/serving
That's pretty darn cheap! Restaurant style pasta for about $2, compared to about $12 in a restaurant!