Hey Pesto!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
I've always likened the Italian pesto with our Peranakan or Malay rempah. The principle is the same even if the ingredients are not. In both cases, one can employ the old-fashioned way of using a pestle or one can cheat using the blender.
Yesterday I cheated.
You see, I wanted to make something quick for dinner. I'm still manic about my current cross-stitching project so quick and easy without compromising on taste are the by-words nowadays in the kitchen. One can't get any quicker with pasta tossed in homemade fresh pesto. Here's what I did in only a couple of minutes:
And here is the recipe:
Pesto alla Genovese
You need:
30g fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
100g Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
How to:
1. Roughly chop up garlic and Parmesan or Romano cheese so you don't give your food processor a hard time.
2. Chuck everything into the food processor and blend until you get a thick, smooth paste. Do not over process or the pesto will be too thin in consistency.
Note:
You might want to scrape the sides during processing to really mix it all up.
The proportions in this recipe are made up to suit my tastebuds. You might like to find out what rocks your boat. Say, more pine nuts but less cheese... that sort of thing.
This keeps for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
And now, we've got the pesto, what do we do with it? Here's one way:
I tossed mine with fresh spaghetti and topped it off with lobster meat (not shown in photo). Of course it doesn't have to be lobster, I just happened to have it in my fridge. This goes well with most grilled steak or seafood - it's that versatile.
Here's how to:
1. Cook pasta of your choice till al dente. Set aside.
2. Heat up a little olive oil in frying pan.
3. Scoop an appropriate amount of pesto in pan. Sautee it briefly.
4. Season with salt and pepper, according to taste.
4. Put in cooked pasta. Toss until well mixed. Serve hot.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 1:32 pm
