Good morning, Darling!
I hope you are doing very well.
Is it really mid May? This spring, the weather just keeps on confusing me. Skirts, and short sleeves, I am expecting to wear these. I cannot wait to feel the lightness of the summer. Get my picnic blanket all grassy whilst taking pleasure from pasta salad, delicately thin slices of bresaola and some meaty Cerignola olives. And wine.
Until I am being held back, I create a pasta dish that can be eaten hot now, but taken to park as a salad when the weather forecast allows that. It is a combination of an delightful lorighitta pasta shape that is served with pistachio pesto.
LORIGHITTAS WITH PISTACHIO PESTO
2 portions
The Sicilian green gold was introduced to locals in Bronte by Muslims who brought exquisite plants to the most populous island of the Mediterranean. The peaches, the citrus fruit and the pistachio.
These Bronte emerald green pistachios are cultivated on the slopes of Etna, where the volcanic ash that fertilises the soil, gives the fruit unique taste. It is sweet and delicate, yet have intense green colour. They are harvested all by hand, and in every two years, hence the price.
Be it Bronte, or different kind of pistachio, they make as delicious pesto when you treat the fruit according to its capability and elevate them with tangy pecorino, floral lemon and pungent basil.
Pistachio pesto is great with orechiette, busiate or lorighittas. If you don’t have time to make them from scratch, just get a good quality ones from a local deli.
TIME
10 minutes for preparation
10 min for assembly
MISE EN PLACE chopping board and a damp cloth or kitchen paper to place under it, grater, kitchen knife, spatula, pestle and mortar or food processor, bowl for mixing the sauce with the pasta, a pan for roasting nuts
INGREDIENTS
70 g pistachios
3 g fresh garlic
7 g fresh basil
5 g parsley
20 g olive oil
15 g grated pecorino
3 g lemon juice
salt
pepper
MAKING IT
If you get hold of Bronte pistachios, start by roasting them very little - just at 160 degrees for up to minutes.
When you are sticking with more accessible pistachios that have shells, soak them first for about 5 minutes in boiling water. Drain the nuts and place them in a clean kitchen towel for some vigorous rubbing as you are trying to get rid of as much of that shell as possible. Then roast the nuts at 160 degrees, but a bit longer, around 15 minutes.
Whilst the nuts roast, prepare your work station and decide whether you go down the pestle and mortar or food processor route.
If you have Bronte pistachios, I highly suggest to use pestle and mortar. It helps you to obtain better control over the final consistency.
Currently, I use just a food processor, simply, because a good heavy pestle and mortar is missing from my kitchen. I have been postponing getting one for ages. It has though made me discover how to work better with food processor. I only use pulse function, and I do stop constantly in order to mix the pesto and make sure I am in control of that final texture. I like it to be even, but chunky. You wouldn’t want to over- grind your pistachios with either of the methods.
PESTLE AND MORTAR METHOD
It simply cannot be argued that the elbow grease used to make pesto by hand, is paying off due to its deeper taste. Though, since pesto requires just a very few ingredients, it is crucially important that you do use buttery and mild, premium quality extra virgin olive oil, and get your pecorino from a cheese shop. It is worth it!
Crush the garlic and half of the basil in a circular movement. Add pistachio nuts and keep in grinding them. Then add rest of the basil. When the basil starts releasing its oils, add pecorino. Season with a squeeze of a lemon juice and add slowly olive oil. Season further with salt and pepper.
Mix boiled pasta and pesto in a bowl, make sure you don’t heat the sauce up as the basil will otherwise become bitter.
FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD
Add garlic, pistachios and basil with a bit of oil to the food processor. Pulse it a few times. Then add pecorino and a bit more olive oil. Pulse another couple of times. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to the taste and more olive oil to get the texture you are after.
Mix pesto and pasta like you would if you made the pestle and mortar version of the pesto.
Have fun with the pesto making!
LORIGHITTAS
PASTA OF THE WEEK
Lorighittas are just so incredibly beautiful in my opinion, especially knowing that the technique for making them has remained the same since 1500s.
_________________________________________________________________________