Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Sausage

Serves 2

Ingredients
Fresh basil leaves - 30g
Pine nuts - 100g
Parmesan cheese - 50g (grated)
Extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1 clove (peeled)
Salt
Pepper
1 medium sized tomato - cut into smaller pieces.
Pasta - 200g
Parsley - for garnish

Method
- Dry fry the pine nuts in a frying pan on low heat. Set aside to cool abit.
- Using a food processor / mortar and pestle, combine the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts and the olive oil until a thick paste forms.
- Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. (If you don't like it too cheesy, you can reduce the amount of cheese). The paste will be coarse and thick but avoid adding too much olive oil. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta (I used tagliatelle) until al dente, reserve about 3/4 cup of pasta water.
- Toss the cooked pasta and (raw) tomatoes in a large mixing bowl with the pesto, adding enough pasta water to moisten the pesto and let it coat the pasta evenly.
- Serve while hot and garnish with shaved parmesan cheese and parsley.