... for food that is... nice.
I don't have any special requirements - I'm just nervous about cooking for my boyfriend in case I'm really rubbish at it, and so I never do. He cooks for me a lot, so I'd like to be able to make something lovely (secretly simple) for him.

I was going to buy a Nigella cook book, but couldn't find one.

I have rubbish resources at the moment and don't know much cooking terminology... can anyone help?

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Hello.
Red pesto (pasta sauce) is the bomb.

I copied & pasted from a website and added 2 more ingredients:

(if you're not familar with measuring in "cups" I can provide g and ml as well )

Red Pesto Sauce

Servings : 8

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomato
1/2 cup pine nuts (OR WALNUTS)
3 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh grated Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 (SEEDLESS...sp?) BLACK OLIVES
1 TSP HONEY

Drain and chop the sun-dried tomatoes. In a food processor process the sun dried tomatoes with the basil and garlic, pulsing the motor until the mix is chopped coarse. Add the Romano, the pine nuts, and 1/4 cup of oil and process for 10 seconds. With the motor running add the remaining oil, the salt, and the pepper. Scrape down the side of the processor bowl, and process the mix until it is well combined.


It's simple.
Just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and use a thing like this (sorry, I couldn't find the english word for it):


this sauce turns out to be very aromatic, so 1-2 TBS per plate of pasta does it.

that's a hand blender innit?

ah okay.
my frequently visited german-english-translation-website didn't have it.
makes sense

yeah. that pesto with fresh parmesan (FRESH!!!) and penne pasta would be a great meal

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you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking

ah - well it'll come in handy if you.... ever have a hand blender conversation

Thank you - I am a pesto fan... and so is he.
I don't really do cups, but if you give me a kind of guide as to what a cup is in grams or whatever, I can work out the rest. Thank you!

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Okay... no problem
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomato (I'd say 7-8 dried tomatoes)
1/2 cup pine nuts (OR WALNUTS) (a handful. those nuts don't matter. add them like you please).
3 cups fresh basil (is a bunch of. as much as you can get. more or less, doesn't matter. Here in Germany you can get them the deep-frozen version, 1 pack serves well. leaving basil out isn't a tragedy. but don't go for the dried version instead!)
1/2 cup olive oil (I'd estimate 5 TBS)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh grated Romano cheese (50-70 grams).
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 (SEEDLESS...sp?) BLACK OLIVES
1 TSP HONEY