Easy Peasy Tasty Cheasy Pasta Pesto (Even Good for Picky, Vegeterian Toddlers on a Camping Site)

OK let me be strait: This isn't exactly ''Haut-Quisine" or good Italian food. But i guess you figured that out by  reading the tittle didn't you?

But if you are seeking for a very simple but tasty pasta recepy that even picky kids will eat than this Ible is for you!
My wife and me use to make this while camping, in a cabin at holidays or just when we are in a hurry.

These pictures where taken when we were indeed on a holiday in a vacation bungalow in our autumn brake.

No let's get started:

What do we need?

-A jar of ready made red pesto (the cheap stuff like the one in the picture is sufficient
-Pasta (duh...well we used " spirelli" but other kind of macaroni or spaghetti will work as well)
-Cheese (We used Dutch 'Gouda'  but other cheese that melts good is OK)
-Cucumber (Hey, my kids gotta to eat some green, healthy stuff! And no, green pesto isn't an option,.. well for a different taste it is)

That's it! Is that all, you say? Yes, but you could add some olives and some Italian spices off course, but thats for the expert chefs ;-)

For this pasta recepy we will need ehm…pasta? Yes,  I used, so called, spirelli. Little spiral formed pasta. Very nice if cooked ‘al dente’, which I like the most. Usually we use wholesome pasta for nutrition reasons.
Take a pan with enough water and boil it. Add the pasta if it starts boiling (yes, that’s when bubbles show up), a cup per person or so. For precise cooking time I recommend looking for the prescriptions on the package since it depends on what pasta you use. Any sort will do, mostly we use this kind but sometimes just ordinary spaghetti .
It usually takes about 8 minutes for al dente after adding it to the boiling water. Tasting with a fork is still the best indicator.
After boiling pour off the water. Be careful, since the water is hot (duh..).
You could add a spoon of olive oil to prevent sticky pasta, but if you are quick enough that’s not necessary because there is enough oil in the pesto

While the pasta is boiling you have time to rasp the cheese (or opening the package with rasped cheese..). Since the bungalow we stayed in didn't had any rasp I chopped the cheese with a potato knive. I love the improvising camping live.

Besides that I sliced the cucumber and putted in a bowl.

Now it's time to add the most important (and almost the only) ingredient: Pesto! This one is the cheapest 'Euroshopper" brand but if you are in a more sophisticated mood you could use some homemade pesto (but that's beyond this basic instructable).

Open the jar and mix it up with that pasta. Very difficult isn't it?

Time to serve it to the hungry beasts. Add some cheese and cucumber and you are ready to go.

'Buon appetito!' or 'Eet smakelijk!'