Pasta with homemade basil pesto

This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u

Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS

Super easy to make & Super good to eat……………

pasta with home made basil pesto

It was one of those days where I was struggling to think of a good ‘different’ dish for my vegetarian friend…………………… Search happened & I came across a very cool recipe.

Ever since then, my friends who have tasted this so far, talk about it & keep asking me to make this again & again.

Boil water in a large vessel. Add 1 teaspoon salt & 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

the pasta we chose – floral

Add 200 grams of pasta (we chose the ones seen in the pic above just bcoz it looked good – u can choose any pasta) after the water comes to a boil.

boiled pasta

Keep boiling pasta till just cooked – not overcooked. Drain, refresh the pasta with cold water & keep aside.

In a blender jar take 3 tablespoons of chilgoza (pine nuts), 4 large cloves of garlic, ¾ cup of grated parmesan cheese,

parmesan cheese grated

 1 cup fresh basil leaves, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil & salt to taste.

Chilgoza & basil leaves

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Cafe Bel Cibo (Ground Floor, Ninex Mall, Sohna Road, Gurgaon)

In a nutshell:

Cool interiors, nice ambience, warm staff, good place to hang out with friends, good for a date as well, but food – average, inconsistent – good at times & bad at other times.
cafe bel cibo

Address & other details: Cafe Bel Cibo

Meal for 2: Rs. 800 onwards

the interiors - long shot

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Ninex Mall

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

You’d love the atmosphere. A bright colorful interior with lots of super cool detailing, a large graphiti,

cool graphiti on the wall

nice little figurines,

figurines

books

books & other stuff on shelves

……………… The interior designer excelled in his / her work.

I heard from two different sets of foodie friends that this new place is good. Both of them have had good experience here. So decided to go there for the first time to have some pizzas.

cool NO SMOKING guy on the wall

We were impressed with the look of the menu card as it arrived – the design, looks & feel.

the cool menu card

Menu options were focused, not too many & not too less – soups,salads, pizzas, pastas, lasagnes, starters, sides & a mezze platter.
Service was good.

The food looked great & very appealing. Some of the food was good. Rest was a disaster. Since my friends have liked it on previous occasions, I guess it was my bad luck – maybe the chef was not around / absent / left the restaurant & the trainee / someone novice was around to cook our food.

Cool Presentation of food

Whatever be the case, it was frustrating to pay full price for the food & get something stupid on the plate. In fact if u r as unlucky as me, U might also turn up there on such a bad day.

I am surely not going back there to re-try & waste my hard earned money.

We ordered a mezze platter, a pesto based pizza & a Belgian Chocolate drink & fresh lime soda. A part of the platter was good, part average. The Pizza was a disaster. The Chocolate drink was good but not what we expect in Belgian Chocolate. It turned out to be like a Belgian ‘Milk Chocolate’ – not dark. The fresh lime soda ‘sweet & salt’ was ok.

Detailed Description – In case u have the time to enjoy reading:

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