Pistachio Pesto Pasta Salad

There was a delicious summer in my childhood when we had just moved into a house that took my parents three years to build.  The house was fabulous; it was designed just for us, and included a music room.  We had a lot of parties, and my parents let me loose with my friends and cousins all summer.  I was especially fortunate to see a lot of a close cousin who grew up with me, but had moved to another city a few years prior.  My father gave me two Abba records to encourage my use of the music room.  That summer became the summer of Abba, carefree, joyful and rich with great company.   Recently I rediscovered all those precious tunes that became the soundtrack for the happiest time in my childhood.

So I had a beach party last weekend, and invited all my family, aunts, uncles and cousins who were a part of my summer of Abba.  I played the music all day long and by the end of the day, as I played backgammon with my father, I could sense my late grandfather watching with his quiet smile.  

We ate casually, burgers and all that goes along.  I did make a pistachio pesto pasta salad:

For the pesto:

1/2 cup unsalted and unroasted shelled pistachios

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves

1/4 - 1/2 cup grape seed oil

salt and pepper to taste

First grind the nuts in a small food processor, then add the garlic and process.  Add the basil leaves and start the motor.  Stream in the oil until desired consistency is reached.

 Taste and season with salt and pepper.  I make pesto with different combination of nuts and herbs, like pine nuts and basil with arugula, or walnuts and cilantro.  I also always add some kind of hard cheese, usually parmesan.  For this dish, I crumble feta cheese into the pasta after adding the pesto, so I have not added any cheese to the pesto.

Prepare 1 pound pasta of your choice, drain and cool on a cookie sheet.  Mix in the pesto and crumble a 7-oz packet of feta cheese (I prefer Valbreso) into the mix.  Serve cold or at room temperature.