Episode #04 - Spaghetti with Fresh Pesto (1 of 2) - Italian Cooking

Spaghetti with fresh home made Pesto and some appetizers to celebrate the arrival of fall...

Serves 4
Preparation time 20 min
Cooking Time as the pasta requires

Ingredients:
- 4 cups of Fresh Basil Leaves (about 4 oz)
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup of Pinoli. Plus three generous handfuls to set aside to be toasted later.
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Sardo or Romano
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- (Matteo's Variation 1/2 Lb cherry tomatoes)

Getting ready:
Rinse well the basil and separate the leaves from the stems.
Grate the cheese.
Peel the garlic.
Open the wine, start sipping.

Making Pesto:
Combine the basil, the garlic, the pinoli and the olive oil in a blender.
Blend until paste forms.
If your blender sucks (like mine), you'll have to stop often to push down the basil. If the paste gets too thick, and you already used all the olive oil the recipe call for, help it by adding a little bit of water (less than 1/2 glass)...
Or go visit Gabriele's blog to enjoy the best and funniest blender on earth!!!

Add the cheese, salt and pepper...blend until smooth.
Keep in the fridge until you're ready to use it...it will prevent it from turning dark.

In a small non stick pan saute' the pinoli you have set aside, when brown remove them from the pan and cool them on a plate.

Cook your pasta...and please, cook it well !!!
Grab a half cup of boiling water and set it aside into a cup.
When ready, drain it, and pour it in a bowl, add the pesto and start stirring the sauce;
use the hot water, adding very little at the time, to help the pesto dissolve around the pasta.

Serve garnished with some grated parmesan or pecorino (just a touch), fresh ground pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil.
Add the toasted pinoli on top.

You are ready to go!
Buon Appetito.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• food
• debi
• mazar
• tuscan
• italian
• gabriele
• corcos
• spaghetti
• pesto
• appeizer
• figs
• pecorino
• Shauna
• Entourage
• Goodfellas

[jacoboscar79]

thanx guys... work on your english!!

[drjekyllandmrjackass]

Good job guys, thanks. Looks expensive though! I'll make some next time I have a fancy occasion planed.

[r2r2r2]

I like how she says to put less in a blender and do small incriments then you put that bitch in line by changing the subject. :D

[bdub24j]

Nice and detailed. Thanks for listing everything too!