Chopped Chive Pesto for Pasta - Italy

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Chopped Chive Pesto for Pasta - Italy

 

Recipe By :The Italian Country Table (Scribner 1999) by Lynne Rossetto

Kasper,1999

Serving Size : 5 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Condiment Quick

Veggie

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

6 quarts salted boiling water

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large garlic cloves

1 cup tightly-packed cup of coarsely chopped chives

3 tablespoons tightly-packed fresh basil

1 tablespoon tightly-packed fresh spearmint

1/2 medium red onion

1/3 cup pine nuts

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil -- , plus 2 teaspoons

extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 pound perciatelli -- or other robust string pasta,

1 1/2 cups freshly grated medium-aged sheep cheese -- (6 ounces)

Pecorino dell’Umbria, Pecorino Toscano, American artisan-made sheep cheese, or

domestic Stella Fontinella, or young Cacio di Roma

 

1. Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile pile the salt on a chopping board. Crush

garlic into it with the side of a large knife. Chop fine. Chop in the herbs and

half the onion until minced very fine. Then coarsely chop in pine nuts. Blend

with 2 tablespoons oil right on the board, seasoning to taste.

2. Fine chop remaining onion. In a large skillet, heat the 2 teaspoons oil,

adding the onion and saute to soften it. Cook pasta at a fierce boil, stirring

often, to tender but still firm to the bite.

3. Drain pasta. Scrape up the chopped mixture from the cutting board into the

saute pan. Warm for only a few seconds over medium heat to let flavors blossom

-- do not cook. Add pasta off the heat, tossing with the pesto and the cheese.

Taste again for seasoning and serve hot.

 

Serves 8 as a first course; 4 to 6 as a main dish.

 

 

I watched a cook on a horse farm in Umbria make a sauce right on her cutting

board with wild chives she picked just outside the back door. Mincing everything

may not follow traditional pesto technique which calls for crushing in a mortar,

but I like the idea of this fast sauce made on a cutting board. Adjust the herbs

with what you find at the market. Try this over rice and with couscous, as well

as over pasta.

Wine: A full-bodied Umbria white like Lungarotti’s Torre di Giano, Castello

della Sala’s Cervaro della Sala, or Bigi’s Torricella Orviet

 

Cuisine:

" Italian "

S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):

" 07.01.08 "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 557 Calories; 19g Fat (30.4% calories

from fat); 24g Protein; 72g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 19mg Cholesterol;

508mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2

1/2 Fat.

 

 

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 26050 3332 3332 0 0 0 0 0 1034