Here’s a dilemma I’m sure we all can relate to: pesto or marinara?

I can remember countless occasions in which I’ve stood in front of the refrigerator, pasta bowl in hand, debating which sauce to pour atop my dish.  You’ve done this too.

Tonight, we were all like, why does everything have to be a choice?  Why does it have to be reading OR watching Freaks and Geeks on DVD?  Being prepared for class OR sleeping?  Pesto OR Marinara?  We wanted both.

We modeled tonight’s dinner around this greediness, but since we weren’t sure that the two sauces would actually taste that good if simply combined, we did some tweaking.  The “marinara” is actually just a raw tomato sauce — super easy to make.  The pesto is pesto, and we added a dollop of ricotta to bring everything together.

Love love loved it.

Ingredients:
(tomato sauce)
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
1/3 cup coarsely chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste

(pasta)
1 lb. pasta
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta

(pesto)
3 cups packed basil
3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp)

Instructions:
For tomato sauce, heat oil in a pan and add shallots.  Cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Combine tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste.  For pesto, combine ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Cook pasta, top with tomato sauce, pesto, and a dollop of ricotta.