Pesto Pasta

Last month, I shared a moment from Preschool where the children were inspired to make Pesto Pasta by noticing how huge the basil bush was. We often use the produce that we’ve grown in our cooking at preschool.

The children take part in the whole process of creating food right through to the cleaning up.

After the careful planning and finding a recipe, we picked the basil, and Tarnae, Lieka, Alila and Ruby plucked the leaves from the stems. Once we’d done that, Ruby and Indiana expertly peeled and chopped the garlic. We use real implements in our cooking, including sharp knives, tongs, blenders etc. This means the children learn how to use them with precision.

They put the garlic into a bowl, Tarua added the olive oil, cashews and salt, then Tahne blitzed it all . We forgot the lemons, said Tahne. So he cut them in half, and Jaavren squeezed them in the juicer. We added the juice, and Tahne proceeded to process the pesto. We need more garlic Lisa, he proclaimed. So we added more, and blitzed and tasted until it was perfect.

Near lunch time, Ari and Theo helped me fill a pot of water, and when it was boiling, we added the pasta. Charlie helped me drain it and stir through the Pesto. Alila and Tahne served the pasta to the children….many of them had seconds, it was scrumptious. We were a bit sad that Frankie wasn’t here that day (as it’s her favourite food). We froze some pesto for her for later.

Tahne asked if he could wash up…he is really good at it too.

By Lisa Torpey