Basil Pesto Pasta

This was lunch for today, after Priya came up and we decided to cook (also Michael had a craving for it last week).  It's fairly easy, although you need a food processor or some kind of blender.  You have three steps of preparation-the pasta, the pesto, and the sauteed veggies to mix in.

Pasta:
Make pasta (any sort will work.  We used linguini, although I've also used shells successfully).
We made a whole box of linguini, which was about 16 oz.

Pesto:
3 cups fresh basil leaves (we were successful with 2 1/2 cups, even though its short)
6 TBSP pine nuts
3 cloves garlic (use 4 if you absolutely love garlic.  We did and it had a strong, but delicious garlic flavor)
1 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
6 tbsp of your favorite italian style salad dressing.  We used Newman's Own olive oil and vineager.  This is a more delicious way of modifying the standard pesto recipe, where you simply use olive oil.  That's why you have to replace it with an olive oil based dressing. 

Mix all of these ingredients together in the food processor and blend until its finely chopped.  It looked a little creamy.

Sauteed veggies:
In a frying pan, mix about 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves pressed or minced garlic, and veggies to saute.
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup onions, chopped

Saute these for about 3-4 minutes, until they've softened a little.  Right before you're ready to take them off, add a chopped tomato and saute for another minute (basically until it's heated).

Really, you could experiment with any vegetables, depending on your tastes, such as:
1/2 cup pitted and halved olives
1/2 cup spinach
2 peeled, sliced carrots.

After all these things are prepared, mix them together in a large bowl and serve.