P-P-Perfect Picnic - Pesto Pasta & Potato Salad

It's been a while since I last blogged (Google decided it didn't like me anymore and blocked my account) but I'm back to share my simple picnic recipes. 

With this great weather we are having this weekend I visited a few parks and they were busy with "picnic-teers" so it got me thinking about picnic food. Two of my favourite picnic snacks are Pesto Pasta and Potato Salad, and they are so simple and easy to make. 

Pesto Pasta:

 

The ingredients needed for this include:

• Pasta (any kind)
• 2-3tbsp pesto sauce
• Philadelphia cream cheese 
• Garlic (optional)
• Cheese (optional)

Method:
 

1) First we need to boil the pasta. Any kind can be used. Today I've used farfalle pasta. It's rough texture means it captures every drop of sauce and retains flavour. Whilst boiling this add a drop of olive oil. This prevents the pasta from sticking together (and sticking to the pan).

 

2) While the pasta is cooking you can make the sauce. Add the pesto to a pan and stir. To this add a little bit of water and the philadelphia cream cheese. Stir on a low heat until the Philadelphia has completely mixed in. At this point you can add garlic if you like. I usually just use garlic philadelphia cream cheese. 

 

 

 

3) Keep the sauce on a low heat continually stirring. Once the pasta has cooked add this to the sauce and mix it all in fully coating the pasta. 

 

 

4) To finish this off I grated some cheddar cheese and sprinkled with mixed red and black pepper. Yum!

 

 Next is the Potato Salad:

The ingredients for this include:

• 1 tin of new potatoes
• 3tbsp mayonnaise  
• Bunch of spring onions 
• Bunch of chives
• Garlic
• Salt
• Lemon juice (optional)
• Black pepper

 

 

1) Boil the new potatoes for approx 10 minutes. Stir these from time to time ensuring these don't overcook (soft potatoes don't suit this salad).

 

2) While the potatoes cook, rinse the spring onions and chives under cold water. Chop these finely into small pieces - the smaller the better. Next crush the garlic. 

 

3) Once the potatoes are cooked drain the water and allow to cool. After a few minutes chop the potatoes into quarters - bite-sized chunks to your linking. Get a large bowl and put these in along with 3 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise. Stir the mayonnaise thoroughly coating all of the potatoes, adding more mayonnaise as you go if required. Be careful, 3 heaped tablespoons tends to be more than enough. 

 

4) Next add salt - quite a lot of it (I never said this recipe was healthy!) Add the salt in gradually, a little bit at a time until you are happy with the saltiness. Make sure you stir the salt in thoroughly. An optional ingredient at this stage is lemon juice. This should be added of you want to turn your classic potato salad into one with a twist, a lemon twist. Only add a little swig of lemon juice. No more than this is needed.
 

5) Finally, to finish this off and add a bit of colour, add the chopped spring onions, chives and crushed garlic. Stir these all in together. Top this off with a sprinkling of black pepper. Then serve up!

 

 I hope you've enjoyed my simple picnic recipes. They are quick and easy to make. Lets just hope the great weather continues so we can have more picnics (or to quote "Yogi Bear "picinics")!