My Mani-“pesto”

Friday, November 02, 2007

If you know Italian food, then you know that there is no such thing.  There is food from Emilia-Romagna and food from Puglia.  Further, there is food from regions within Puglia and food from regions within Emilia-Romagna – and even micro-regions within those regions.  Italian food is, if anything, intensely local, achieving its effect by enhancing the flavor of local, seasonal ingredients. So what happens when you cook Italian food outside of Italy? 

At first, I sought to cook only foods from a particular region, Emilia-Romagna, but that proved expensive, wasteful, and – in retrospect – arbitrary (why Emilia-Romagana over Puglia, Lombardy or Piedmont?).  Now, I think I’ve found a better way.

Now, I am looking to transpose recipes (as opposed to replicate) using ingredients from this region.  Obviously, this has its limits: I still prefer to cook with olive oil for health and taste reasons.  Still, why can I not use local parmesan-style cheese or pancetta? 

This pesto recipe is, I think, a good representation of the balance between imported products and local ones.  The basil, parsley, and garlic are from Red Earth Farm, the walnuts from the Headhouse Square Farmer’s Market. The cheese is from Hendricks’ Dairy, and sea salt from Maine (purchased at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal).  I tend to make this with whole-wheat pasta from Severino, but it works beautifully over fish as well. 

One final note: my wife and I do not enjoy oily pesto, so I’ve modified the original technique slightly in an effort to use only as much olive oil as necessary.

(Almost) Local Pesto

2 cups basil, washed
¼ cup parsley, washed
3 tablespoons walnuts, toasted
½ cup (or more to taste), Parmesan
1 clove garlic
1 pinch sea salt
olive oil

1 lb. whole-wheat pasta

Set a pot of water boiling, aggressively salt the water, and dump in the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine basil, parsley, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, and salt.  “Pulse” several times until the ingredients start to blend.  Then, turn on the processor and drizzle in only enough olive oil to blend everything to a paste-like consistency.

Drain the pasta, but reserve approximately one cup of the pasta water (it should be nice and cloudy from the starch).  Combine the pasta, butter, and pesto in a bowl, gradually adding enough pasta water to blend everything.  (Suddenly, the pesto should magically seem to coat everything.)