Note: A "Jayne" recipe tends to be a bit vague when it comes to quantities. Numbers are not my forte and I rarely make anything the same way twice. Feel free to adjust any of the following amounts to taste. Some folks might want to add a bit of garlic. Whatever. The good news is that you can't go far wrong on this recipe, provided you like the basic concept of pasta tossed with pesto. More good news: This is surprisingly low in calories unless you go wild with the olive oil. Even if you do get carried away, it's one of the "good" oils.

Second Note: As with all Jayne recipes, this one has been field-tested on Frank many times.

• A bunch (meaning enough leaves to equal three to four cups, loosely packed) of any of the following: Fresh arugula, fresh parsley, or fresh basil -- or any combination of these three.
• Half a dozen large green olives -- the kind with those little red pimiento thingys stuffed inside.
• Quarter of a cup of grated parmesan cheese.
• Yes, I know pine nuts are traditional in pesto. You can certainly add a quarter of a cup or so if you love them. But I rather like the recipe without the nuts and its much lower in calories that way.
• Good quality olive oil.

Wash and dry the herb leaves and put them into a food processor. Slice the olives in half and add them. Add the grated parmesan and the pine nuts if you're using them. Blend just long enough to chop all the ingredients up into a coarse mixture. Use your own judgment as to how coarse. I like mine fairly fine but still "textured".

TO SERVE

Toss the mixture with hot pasta (any kind). Put a bottle of good olive oil and some extra grated cheese on the table so that everyone can drizzle a bit of the oil and some cheese on his or her pasta to taste. Serve with a good red Zinfandel (not the wimpy "white zin") and a very fresh loaf of a nice, crusty, chewy rustic style bread. Do not, I beg you, heat the bread in a microwave. Microwaves do terrible things to good bread. If you want it warmed, stick it into a real oven for a few minutes, covered with foil. Don't serve butter with the bread, serve small, individual bowls of olive oil instead. Let your guests dunk chunks of the bread into the oil.

Jayne Ann Krentz