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how to moisten cold pasta pesto ?

post #1 of 4
4/4/07 at 8:42am
Thread Starter 
I made a BIG batch of cold pasta pesto with chicken for avery large crowd.

It will be served tonight at an event. When I get to the location and get ready to serve it, it might be kind of dry.

How can I moisten it? Chicken broth? water? Cook's illustrated had an article and it said to put some mayo in the pesto sauce.

this is just Classico jarred sauce with penne.

What should I moisten it with?

thanksl please respond asap.

Susan
Slainte!

Susan
vloglady@hotmail.com
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post #2 of 4
4/4/07 at 9:36am
Yes,
Mayo and a little water or milk at the last minute. The other option
is extra virgin olive oil.
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post #3 of 4
4/4/07 at 9:51am
My only concerns with mayo would be how long is it going to sit out and at room temp or iced? I would probably moisten with chicken stock or more pesto.
Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
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post #4 of 4
4/4/07 at 10:51pm

flavor

for the most flavor moisten with more pesto. Also try oiling the pasta a bit first before dressing initialling to create a bit of a seal that the pesto can stick to.

If you add commerical not homemade mayo it is a fairly stable product and can sit out for a similar amount of time that the other ingredients in your recipe can.

Another thought is to infuse some olive oil with some fresh garlic and add that. Infuse by boiling the garlic in the oil and then let cool and bottle for a day or two to use in your pasta salad. Just a touch should do so it's not too oily.


we used to make this killer pasta pesto using tuna fish mixed with the pesto. It gave the salad a richer fuller body and flavor - you really didn't know there was tuna. Of course it takes it out of the realm of vegetarian.

Another thought that just occured to me is to dice some roma tomatoes (or cherries cut in half)
and throw them in at the last minute to refresh the salad and wet the pesto up a bit. Toss them in a bit of pesto before adding to salad. at site.

retain a few as the garnish on top that are just red (not tossed).

some fresh julienned basil at the last minute would also add great flavor.

hope this helps
Chef Tigerwoman

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