This is my Monday dinner. It took only 30 minutes to make and about 10 to enjoy but every time I think about it I want to have another bowl. It was also the first time I made my own pesto sauce. It is really yummy and addictive. Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti (I used 1/3-1/2 of a pack for 2 people)
•  A pack (200g) of white mushrooms
• A pack (200g) of cherry tomatoes
• Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle, I used 1/3 of a cup)
• Bread crumbs (optional if you like crunchy)
• Pesto sauce (I made it myself)
  • 2 cups of fresh basil leafs
  • 1/4 of a cup of olive oil
  • 2 table spoons of minced garlic (you can put less, I just really like the taste of garlic)
  • a bit of red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Put a big pot filled with 3/4 of water on high
2. Meanwhile you can make fresh home-made pesto sauce by mixing all ingredients listed for the pesto sauce and blending them into a puree. Once done, set aside
3. When you see the water in the pot boil, salt it (2 pinches of salt) and add spaghetti
4. Cut mushrooms into small slices and place them on a frying pan, adding a little bit of olive oil and set on medium (don’t put too much olive oil as pesto sauce contains a lot of it already)
5. Cut tomatoes in half and add them to a frying pan
6. Stir tomatoes and mushrooms until they change colour, then add pesto sauce and stir some more
7. I also added about 5 spoons of water from the pot with spaghetti to the frying pan with pesto sauce and mushrooms/tomatoes to make it look more like a sauce and less oily. If you have too much liquid you may add a spoon or two of flour
8. When spaghetti is ready, remove water and add it to a frying pan with veggies and pesto sauce and stir everything
9. On a separate frying pan, pour a little bit of olive oil (1-2 tea spoons) and add some bread crumbs (I tore one slice of white bread into small pieces). You can add a little bit of minced garlic or Parmesan cheese to it, and fry them for about 2 minutes until crumbs turn golden in colour. These things are called “poor man’s bread” and used in restaurants to replace cheese (and I think they taste even better with cheese)
10. Now it is my favourite part – presentation. Using 2 big spoons/spatula, place pasta in 2 pasta bowls (or more, depending how many servings you want to have). Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, poor man’s bread (#9) and freshly grounded black pepper. Enjoy! 
11. If you like to add some protein, both chicken or shrimp will taste great in this kind of pasta.