Pesto Part One

Now, just because this is called Part One does not necessarily mean there will be a Part Two, but you never know...

A couple of months ago I tried a recipe for Pesto Potatoes and Peas. Of course while I was cooking Ella and Miller were running around in and out of my legs, screaming and chasing each other. During the chaos I forgot about the potatoes and let them roast too long. The recipe called for tossing the roasted potatoes with pesto and sweet peas. But my potatoes were so cooked, tossing was not an option. So what do you do with overcooked potatoes? Make mashed potatoes of course! This ended up being one of our favorite recipes. (I do not even begin to claim that I am good at taking pictures of food, but when it deals with recipes I always like to have a picture to know what my end product will look like. I promise it is way better than the picture makes it look).


Pesto Mashed Potatoes
10-8 red potatoes cut up in bite size pieces
1/3 bag of small sweet peas
2-3 spoonfuls pesto (depending on taste)
parmesan cheese
1/2 & 1/2
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the potatoes in salt and pepper and olive oil to coat. Roast in oven at 400 degrees until very golden (probably between 40 minutes to an hour). Roughly smash the potatoes, I like them to still be pretty chunky in this dish. Add peas, pesto, parmesan, 1/2 & 1/2 and salt and pepper. You do not need to add very much 1/2 & 1/2, just enough to make it moist. Probably about 1/2 cup of parmesan, but it is really up to you how much cheese you want. I always go by the rule that it is pretty hard to have too much parmesan! Be sure to taste because you may want to add more pesto. Cover with a parmesan and bake for about 5 to 10 more minutes. Enjoy!!!