Saturday, March 21, 2009

Pesto alla Anna

Inspiration:
A Lidia Bastianich recipe, adapted and printed in GQ


Ingredients:
  • handful of almonds, lightly toasted
  • bunch of fresh basil
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • pinch of crushed red-pepper flakes
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
  • salt and black pepper
  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (for the non-vegans)

Instructions:
  1. Boil water for the pasta, and cook when ready.
  2. Place the almonds, a handful of the basil, the garlic, and red-pepper flakes in a food processor. Process while drizzling in about a half cup of olive oil, until pureed but still chunky.
  3. Add the cherry tomatoes. Process until incorporated. The sauce should look like bolognese--thick and hearty, a yellowish orange. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Just before pasta is done, scoop out about a cup of cooking water. Drain pasta.
  5. Place sauce in a large serving bowl. Add some of the water (start with just a little) and stir until the sauce is smooth.
  6. Add pasta to the bowl and toss until coated. Let cool a bit, then toss with lots of Parmigiano-Reggiano (if desired).
  7. Taste. Season. Serve. Devour.

Recipe Notes: A bright, bracing alternative to traditional pesto genovese. And as easy a recipe as you'll find, provided you own a food processor.

My Notes: Super easy and flavorful. A nice bright bunch of flavors as spring arrives but the winter produce still fills the grocery store.

Liz's Rating: 8.5/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

3 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Mmm!!! Can't go wrong with a Lidia recipe.

weezermonkey said...

Delicious!

Erin said...

I love that that's a GQ recipe... you can tell it was designed as a "come on guys, even you can cook this!" type of recipe. The red pesto idea sounds really good, I might have to try this!