pasta with basil pesto, chilli and fried garlic

A quick winter meal that hits the spot and delivers some much need garlic to my system. I am really loving the Orgran gluten free pasta.

basil pesto
1 cup of pine nuts, toasted
2 packed cups of basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of barley miso (or in a pinch yellow miso/white miso)
1/4 cup of nooch
1/4 to 1/2 a cup of olive oil (I used chilli oil and grabbed chunks of chilli out of the jar)

method
1. Toast the pinenuts in a pan on high heat until they turn golden brown (they burn quickly so don't stop watching them!).

2. Whizz all the pesto ingredients in a food processor until blended. Slice 4 or 5 cloves of garlic and toast in a pan (I used very little oil for this) until they are crispy and almost burnt. Toss the freshly cooked pasta in a buttload of pesto and sprinkle the garlic on top. This was so good and so much what I needed I almost cried.

notes: Nooch = nutritional yeast or 'savoury yeast flakes' as it is sometimes called. You can buy at any health food store. Is a high source of B vitamins for vegans. It adds a cheesy flavour. You can make the pesto without.