Fettucine with Pesto

Saturday 1 October

It just struck me that it's been 5 years and a month since we started the blog, on September 1, 2006.  That's pretty amazing, considering how short a time most blogs seem to last, and how intermittent they are.  So how come they haven't offered us a TV show or a book contract, like that Pioneer Woman or the Julie and Julia girl?  I guess we need a gimmick, like living on a ranch or having our marriage break up.  On second thought - no thanks.

We haven't made fresh pesto since back in 2006 as well.  Didn't need to - we had so much frozen.  And there's still a stubborn block of it still, waiting for a crowd of 20 or so.

This summer, Barbara planted basil seed from two old packets - genovese and purple ruffles - and since the germination from old seed is tricky, only 3 plants came up.  The green genovese made about a cup for storage, and we whizzed up the purple (which is less succulent) for tonight's dinner, to be served on fresh pasta.

Before pestoizing, we consult Barbara's favorite recipe for pesto, from the 1985 Fourth Annual "Oh Boy, Basil! Festival" in Parma, Michigan, the only thing purely Italian about which is the name Parma.  We've adopted/adapted the winning recipe, by Barbara Herman of Fort Wayne, as published in the Philadelphia Inquirer that year; a xerox has followed us all the way to Cincinnati.

Besto Pesto

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/2 tsp. fresh-ground white pepper

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 oz. grated Asiago cheese

2 oz. grated aged Provolone cheese (okay, use pecorino romano)

3-4 cups fresh basil leaves

In the food processor, whiz up garlic with salt, then add both types nuts, pepper, and half the oil; blend to a paste, 30 seconds.  Add all the cheeses and the rest of the oil, blend for several seconds.  Finally add all the basil and blend until it's pesto. 

When the pesto is fresh from the garden, you might as well make fresh pasta to honor it.  So Holt mixed up a batch, and we rolled it out into fettucine.  That's all you need for a summer banquet.