Pasta with pesto salad Recipe: Low Fat, Low Sugar

For four people

8 oz / 200 g wholemeal macaroni

4 pints water

2 oz / 50 g basil leaves, washed and dried

2 oz / 50 g garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 oz / 50 g pine nuts

4 tablespoons olive oil

• Add the dry pasta to a large pan of boiling water, salted to taste.
• Different thicknesses and shapes of pasta require slightly different cooking times, so check the manufacturers' instructions and test the pasta two minutes and one minute before the cooking time is up. It should be firm to the bite, but not hard. If overcooked it will become a soft and sticky mass.
• Drain the pasta and then rinse with a kettle of boiling water and drain again.
• Return the pasta to the pan.
• Liquidise the basil leaves, garlic and pine nuts with half the olive oil, then beat in the remaining oil much more gently.
• Toss the warm pasta with the pesto and allow to cool before serving.