Creamy Pesto Rigatoni with Chunky Tomato Vinaigrette

[valchemist]

I was searching around for pesto recipes and I found this thread
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Archives/Archive-000001/HTML/20010301-1-001569.html

which contains great reviews on the Creamy Pesto Rigatoni with Chunky Tomato Vinaigrette. It says the recipe is on the CL recipe finder, but I guess they removed it because I can't find it there. I also don't have it in my MasterCook.

I am wondering if anyone has this recipe available for posting.

thanks,
valerie

[Terrytx]

Here you go, enjoy!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Creamy Pesto Rigatoni w/ Chunky Tomato Vinaigrette*

Recipe By :Cooking Light-5/99
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pasta

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups diced seeded tomatoes -- (about 4 large)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fat-free less-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese -- divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 (8oz) block fat-free cream cheese -- softened
6 cups hot cooked rigatoni (about 3/4 lb. uncooke
1/4 cup pine nuts -- toasted

Combine first 4 ingred. in a bowl, set aside. Combine broth, basil, 2 tbl. Parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic and cream cheese in a blender; process until smooth. Combine basil mixture and rigatoni in a Dutch oven, and cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. Spoon pasta onto each of 6 plates. Top with tomatoe vinaigrette, 2 tbl. Parmesan, and pine nuts. (serving size: 1 cup pasta, 2/3 cup tomatoe vinaigrette, 1 tsp. Parmesan, and 2 tsp. pine nuts.

353 cal, 8.2g fat, 17.8g pro, 52.6g carb, 10mg chol, 594 mg sod.



NOTES : serve with simple salad using Dijon Vinaigrette, and French bread.

[valchemist]

Thanks, Terry. Can't wait to try it!

[JennieL]

This was the ONLY CL recipie that I thought was terrible. I think it was becuase of the fat free cream cheese. I'll never use FF cream cheese again, only the lite cream cheese, which is terrific. There gets to a certain point when I won't sacrifice taste!

I hope you have a better experience with the recipie!

[valchemist]

Jennie,

thanks for that review. I love hearing different viewpoints.

You say that you think it was bad due to the fat free cream cheese. What was wrong with it, specifically? Did you have a hard time incorporating the cream cheese - didn't it blend well? did it turn watery or taste bad? I haven't had good luck with fat free cream cheese either. I think I will bump it up to 1/3 less fat cream cheese.

Val

[JennieL]

The texture was fine, but fat free cream cheese tastes too "fake" for me. I now substitute lite for fat free in all CL recipies.

[Peggy]

Val,

I absolutely love this recipe. No problem with the fat-free cream cheese here. It is great in the summer when the tomatoes and basil are fresh from the garden. I usually cheat and add extra pine nuts! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif Hope you like it!

Peggy

[Kristi]

I agree with Peggy...I loved this recipe!

[mightyh]

Thanks so much for bringing this recipe to my attention. In fact, I don't know how I overlooked it in the first place... It's really delicious and does taste like summer.

Plus, it's easy--my dh made it for me last night after I had a long day with the baby http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

It will definitely be on our make-again list (which is pretty short, as I like to try new stuff) throughout the summer. Yum yum yum!!

[ewatkins]

Just wanted to rave about this recipe (I never use FF cream cheese, only the 1/3 kind.) I had some pesto already made up in the freezer so I just added chicken broth and the cream cheese and improvised. What I loved about it was the contrast of taste and textures--creamy sauce and then tart crunchy tomato/balsamic/red onion. I eat a ton of pasta and this one really woke up my taste buds!! The leftovers were great too.

[mb]

thanks for posting this! it looks delicious - i can't wait to try it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

mb

[gertdog]

Gotta add my rave. I loved this, although I've always made it with light cream cheese rather than fat-free.

A few weeks ago I made this as a salad for a potluck, using cheese tortellini instead of the rigatoni. I served it chilled; I held out some of the dressing and stirred it in at the last minute so it would still be creamy, not coagulated. I spooned on the tomato vinaigrette and pine nuts and let people dig in. It was great! Probably not "light" anymore with my modifications, but a great potluck dish.

I got many requests for the recipe!

[HUNGRY!]

This looks like a good one. Thanks for putting it up. I was just starting to plan my menu's for next week too!

[DmOrtega]

Good recipe. I made it for myself this week. I put the tomato mix in a separate bowl. I can see why you need to seed the tomatoes. This creates quite a lot of liquid. It's ok for this recipe. I put the cream cheese mix in a separate bowl, mmmm, this is very good. I just cook up the amount of pasta I need and spoon on what I want from each of the mixes. I often will cook extra pasta and reheat what I need in the microwave. I did add some parmasean cheese on top. This is perfect for these hot days that we are getting now and very quick to put together on our busy nights.

[MrsReber]

Oooooh, this sounds good. We have lots of tomatoes and basil in the garden. Sounds like the perfect recipe!! I'll use the light cream cheese, as suggested. It's always a bit creamier.

I'm glad valchemist asked for this one. I've been looking for some new, easy dishes for the summer (too hot for the oven!!).

[Terrytx]

valchemist, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Even though I was the one who posted it, I hadn't tried it. We had it for dinner last night and thought it was great. I even used fat-free cream cheese.

[BosunsWife]

Mmmmm. Sounds really good. DH is leaving for the week on Monday so I guess I will make it on Sunday before he leaves that way I won't have to cook for myself and DD on Monday.

[browneye]

I'm with JennieL here. We made this last night with some fabulous fresh tomatoes and basil. Thought it would be really great. I couldn't eat mine, I actually tossed it, and warmed up some leftovers. THis is really the first CL recipe I have not been able to eat.
DH was trying to be kind, he was able to eat his, but he agreed that it broke our long streak of CL winner dinners. He asked that I not repeat the recipe.
Isn't it strange how different folk's tastebuds work?

[Peggy]

I will be making this once again tomorrow night for dinner. Our garden is full of wonderful tomatoes and fresh basil that must be used... It really is funny how everyone does have different taste buds! This is one of our summer favorites.

Peggy

[KathrynY]

Bringing up this old thread because we FINALLY tried this recipe last night - had lots of fresh basil and tomatoes to use up. I was a little hesitant, given the mixed reviews, but we loved it! I did use 1/3 less fat cream cheese rather than fat free, so that probably made a big difference in flavor and texture.

I would urge folks who are not sure to at least prepare the creamy pesto rigatoni and try the chunky tomato vinaigrette a little at a time. My initial thought was that room temperature "salsa" over warm pasta was weird, but it worked for us! Very nice, and we will definitely repeat. Served with garlic roasted green beans.

[valchemist]

I just noticed I never posted my review. so I went back to my mastercook and looked at my notes. here is what I said:

Well, I am glad I didn't cook the tomatoes. I think it would have been weird if I did. This is the kind of dish you either like or you don't. Some people probably wouldn't be into all that balsamic vinegar on the tomatoes. Plus, it is a bit strange putting the cold (room temp) tomatoes on the hot pasta. But I liked the meal - thought it was very good. Don said it was fine, which means he liked it but there are other things he would rather have. So neither of us "raved" over it like people on the bb. But it was VERY easy and tasty. (by the way, I made the sauce in a blender with the fat free cream cheese and it turned out just fine. I was surprised that the ff cream cheese worked so well!)