* Exported from MasterCook *
Paolo's Arugula Pesto the Chez Panisse Way - Pesto di Rucola di Paolo
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Condiment LowerCarbs
Veggie
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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4 cups baby arugula leaves -- loosely packed and dried well
2 garlic cloves -- crushed in a mortar with a pinch of salt
1/2 cup walnuts -- lightly toasted, pounded in a mortar to a paste
1/2 cup pine nuts -- lightly toasted, pounded in a mortar to a paste
1/3 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil -- more if needed
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
To serve: -- 1 pound pasta (fresh or dried) and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Put arugula, garlic, walnuts, pine nuts, pecorino, and Parmesan in the jar of a blender an pulse to coarsely chop..Pack it down, add the oil, and pulse again. Continue to pulse, opening up the blender to stir the ingredients so the blade is always cutting new leaves, until the pesto is almost pureed to a paste but is mot smooth. Add more oil if necessary to form a loose paste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the pesto to the bottom of a pasta bowl.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Stir in a small fistful of salt and a splash of olive oil, and the spaghetti and boil until the spaghetti is al dente. Lift the spaghetti out of the pot and into the bowl with the pesto. Add the butter and a splash of pasta water and toss to coat, adding more pasta water until the spaghetti is slippery. Sprinkle with a dusting of Parmesan and serve immediately, with Parmesan at the tables.
Serves 6.
Many years ago, when we were touring for our first book, Alice Waters invited us to cook a dinner at her famous, very special restaurant, Chez Panisse, in California. After that dinner, of course we
gave the chefs at the restaurant a copy of the book. From that, they learned to make Paolo's arugula pesto, and have continued to make it in the winter, when basil is not in season, ever since. Here the chefs have been kind enough to share their secrets for making our pesto.
"We add pine nuts for sweetness, as walnuts can sometimes add the rocket's (another word for arugula) inherent bitterness. For the same reason, we rub skins off the toasted walnuts. We also use both pecorino and Parmesan cheeses as the arugula pesto seems to want more cheese than basil pesto would. And lastly, rather than adding pureed tomatoes, we toss in sun-dried tomato pieces, sparingly, with the pasta at the end. Also, a note: we always use a blender for pesto making, not a food processor. And we are sure to not let it run any longer than necessary - it should always be grinding new leaves, not just regrinding what is already done. To that end, we like to pack the blender with ingredients, pulse, push down, pulse, stir, pulse, stir, and add a little more oil if needed as we go. Stop blending when it is just pureed. A slightly chunky pesto is much preferable to an overpureed one."
Cuisine:
"Sicilian"
Source:
"100 Ways to Be Pasta: Perfect Pasta Recipes from Gangivecchio by Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005."
S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):
"Aug 2009"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 336 Calories; 33g Fat (84.5% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 162mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch)
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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