In the Kitchen: Pasta w/pesto & olives

Tonight for dinner I made a simple pasta throwing together ingredients that I mostly keep stocked in my kitchen. You could vary this adding or deleting any ingredient. That's the nice thing about pasta, once you've got your patsa and sauce down, just about anything else will go! Another great thing about pasta, so easy! Especially when you come home from work (in the dark), exhausted and slightly unmotivated.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Pasta, I used Barilla Plus (love that stuff and no its not just becasue we do their advertising at my agency)
1 cup - Kalmata olives
2-4 Teaspoons - Pesto
1 - Bell Pepper, halved
1 cup - Parmesan cheese

Extra:
Crusty Bread
Olive Oil

Spinach for side dish

PREPERATION:
Begin to boil water for the pasta, while you wait for that to boil slice the bell pepper and place on a baking sheet or broiler pan. Turn the broiler on high and place peppers in for about 8 minutes, watching them carefully and removing when they are charred. When the peppers are done and look like the below, take them off the baking sheet with tongs and put them into a ziplock bag and seal. Set aside.

Meanwhile, begin heating a saute pan and add olive oil. Then toss in fresh spinach. Stir occassionally, should only take 4-5 minutes to fully cook.

Once pasta is al dente, remove and drain. I then returned to the original pan since I was going to serve my pasta hot. Then mix in pesto to taste, I used around two tablespoons, but for more pasta use more pesto. Then, slice olives and throw into pan, followed by a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Next, for a pure carb overload, slice up some nice crusty bread and sprinkle will olive oil and a bit of parmesan cheese, broil this on low until cheese begins to melt.

Now, remove the peppers from the bag and peel off the skin, then chop and throw in with pasta. Spinach and bread should be done now as well. And voila, you've got dinner! Grab a glass of wine and you're all set :)