Cashew Basil Pesto
Friday, July 29, 2011
Not only pine nuts. Not always spaghetti.
Long live the Pesto.
for one medium jar
basil a whole lot
(but hey, how can you say? a huge, huge amount of fragrant basil, I'd say a big fat bunch)
cashews 30 gr
garlic 1-2 cloves
grated parmigiano cheese 20 gr
olive oil about 125 ml
lemon juice few drops
salt, pepper as needed
(but hey, how can you say? a huge, huge amount of fragrant basil, I'd say a big fat bunch)
cashews 30 gr
garlic 1-2 cloves
grated parmigiano cheese 20 gr
olive oil about 125 ml
lemon juice few drops
salt, pepper as needed
As always, do as you like with pesto: mortar, elbow grease and summa cum laude; or else mixer, power on and whatever. In the end, I haven't told you anything, but most of all, tell me who will notice.
So, in summary, throw everything into the container of choice and pound with joy.
Cold Sugar Snap Pea Soup
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Here comes another minimal recipe, fast and super simple, perfect even for the laziest of foodbloggers and the skimpiest kitchen. Plagiarized directly from The Minimalist, a truly self-explanatory name. By now you should all know - at least I hope - who this phantom Minimalist is, and if you don't know it, I'll say it one last time: it's Mark Bittman, yeah, always the same one who made No Knead Bread famous around the web, one of the few non-original recipes included in the New York Times column that he's gloriously taken care of for years.
The thing is, this Mark Bittman and I started being serious only few months ago, when I went in a real trip with his simple dishes, at times even a little heretics, but always compelling and of guaranteed success.
Love happened by chance when I first heard these three or four basic facts:
1) Mark Bittman, perhaps the most famous food journalist of the NYT, the same one that has experienced, tested and published thousands of recipes, he has the smallest kitchen, so small it almost competes with mine (I said almost);
2) Mark Bittman is an avid marathon runner, and as such he even has his own column on runnersworld.com;
3) Miss Bittman, daughter of the more famous Mark, apparently works as a waitress in a famous San Francisco pizzeria, and she lives in the Mission (thus getting another 10 points, for free);
4) Mark Bittman named La Ciccia one of the best Italian restaurants in San Francisco, confirming that he and I are right on the same page, and almost making me faint to the discovery that he actually had dinner there, just a stone's throw from my skimpy kitchen, and maybe just as I was walking by him going to the bus stop.
Andwhatdoyouwantmetodo? He is just the umpteenth Mark that gained the right to enter my collection of i-like-this-guy, after Mark Z., Mark G., and - oh - Mark M./ Mark M.
To each one his own soup; hot or cold, it doesn't matter.
for 2-3 people
sugar snap peas 500 gr
vegetable stock about 3 cups
salt, pepper, sour cream, fresh parsley as needed
vegetable stock about 3 cups
salt, pepper, sour cream, fresh parsley as needed
The hardest part of the recipe - speaking for myself - was trying to understand what the Italian equivalent for sugar snap peas is, since I, such a good foodblogger, had never seen nor heard of these peas back there in my homeland.
And since I've already done all the work for you, what are you waiting for? Hands down to the blender and let's soup.
Wash sugar snap peas and place them in a large pot with the stock. Slowly bring to a boil and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, until peas are quite tender. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Blend peas and stock together until they are puréed. Strain the mixture through a strainer or a meshed sieve to remove fibers, season with salt and pepper and let cool in the refrigerator. Serve the soup adding a dollop of sour cream and a little bit of fresh chopped parsley in each bowl.