Orzo with Rancho Gordo Puglia Lentils and Calabrian Chilies
An Italian comfort dish with Rancho Gordo lentils, orzo, Calabrian chili paste, and a splash of balsamic. Simple ingredients, deep flavor, and a kid-approved favorite.
Pesto Butter Pasta with Slow-Simmered Cherry Tomatoes
A quick, satisfying pasta built from leftovers — warm pesto butter coating every strand of angel hair, finished with those sweet slow-simmered cherry tomatoes you keep in the fridge for upgrades like this.
Ingredients
8 oz angel hair pasta
2 tbsp Kerrygold salted butter
1/2 cup prepared pesto
Slow-simmered cherry tomatoes (with some oil)
Salt and pepper
2–3 ladles starchy pasta water (as needed)
Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Cook the pasta
Boil the angel hair in well-salted water. Just before draining, reserve at least 2 cups of the starchy pasta water.
- Season and butter the pasta
Add the drained pasta to a bowl and season it with salt and pepper. Toss with the butter and a couple ladles of hot pasta water until the butter melts and coats the strands.
- Add the pesto
Add the prepared pesto and keep mixing, loosening with more pasta water — usually 2 to 3 ladles total — until the sauce is glossy and clings to the pasta without being wet or soupy.
- Finish with cherry tomatoes
Spoon the slow-simmered cherry tomatoes over the top, letting some of the tomato oil drip into the pasta. Finish with grated cheese.
Notes
This was the perfect little snack — nothing fancy, just a clean bowl of glossy pesto butter pasta with a hit of sweetness from the tomatoes. The pasta water really makes the sauce, so don’t skip it.
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