A little blogging for my/your entertainment tonight, since it’s almost 11pm and I’m tired of working, and yes, I really am in bed, listening to The Cars and drinking Domaine Le Serp 2012 Madiran (70/30 Tannat/Cab Franc). There’s something to be said for drinking wine in bed. Especially a favorite.
Madiran is special to me. I realize Madiran is a place, but to me, it’s more like Oz (not like Australia, I mean in the Wizard of Oz) - it’s more than just a wine region I can spot on a map. It’s more than knowing Madiran is red and Pacherenc is white. It’s more than knowing the wine is made from Tannat. Yes, that’s all special to me. But I attended my first Guild of Sommeliers master class a few years ago, and it changed my life. It was on the wines of Sud-Ouest, or South West France. The honesty and purity of the wines was shining through and the uniquely expressive aromas were intoxicating as I absorbed the information and tasted through the lineups, and as the 2 master sommeliers made their presentation. One of them began to describe his travel through Sud-Ouest, including Madiran, and the humble yet endearing, expressive yet mysterious culture began to leave an impression on me (and mind you, I’ve never even been there), yet via the wines, I manage to go there in my mind and on my palate all the time.
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| Pesto on Penne |
Wines of humble means are special to me. Yes, I love the great wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, Tuscany and Piemonte, but those rustic creations of God and man from places many have forgotten or have never even heard of are among my favorites.
The foods, too.
Americans seem to be in this peculiar habit lately of serving “peasant food” in luxury settings. I’m talking about lentils, beans, and the like. But for me, rustic foods are staples.
Tonight, the one I want to tell you about is pesto.
I know you’ve heard of pesto. I’m sure you’ve tasted pesto on enough occasions. Perhaps even in a nice restaurant. But why? It’s something you can make in 5 minutes from ingredients you might just grow in your own home garden.
My pesto can go on any macaroni (that’s probably pasta to you - but in our house, it’s macaroni) - and the pesto itself includes about 2 large handfuls of fresh basil, a small handful of fresh parsley, pignoli (about a tablespoon or 2), some sea salt and black pepper, about 3 tablespoons of good olive oil, a small garlic clove (or believe it or not, a few good shakes of garlic powder if you’re a little shy about garlic), about half a teaspoon of anchovy paste, and about a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice.
What else you’ll need - boiling water with a touch of sea salt and olive oil for cooking your macaroni, another small pot of boiling water (to blanche the herbs), and a salad spinner (or you could just dry the herbs with paper towels, but trust me when I tell you that the salad spinner is a godsend. You’ll also need a food processor. And a bowl of ice water.
Wash the basil and parsley, and blanche them. Know what blanching in? Just in case you don’t, it’s putting the ingredient into boiling water (in this case for about 10 seconds) to lock in the bright natural color. Then you quickly remove it so it doesn’t keep on cooking, and cool it in the ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove and place it all in that salad spinner, and let the device do its job.
In a small pan, lightly toast the pignoli (no more than 2 tablespoons), and set aside a few for garnish.
And now for the food processor - place the dried fresh basil and parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, anchovy paste, and pignoli in and begin to puree it. As it’s pureeing, drizzle in the olive oil. Once it’s all chopped and mixed, it’s done, and thanks to blanching, it should be bright green still.
Boil the macaroni. Once the macaroni is drained, stir in the pesto and mix until macaroni is coated.
I like to plate it and serve it as an appetizer, but if you’d like, you cna toss in some slices of chicken breast. Anyway, plate it individually, and top with grated cheese (for me, it’s parmigiano reggiano), and a bunch of toasted pignoli, and if you’ve got any tiny basil leaves, they look adorable stop the green macaroni masterpiece.
Serve it with a chilled Italian white. On Easter, it was the 2011 Pieropan La Rocca Soave, and it was perfect.
