Iain responds to Matt Benz's Black Bean Pesto:

This may be good to eat but it *isn't* pesto. Beans? Chile powder?? lime juice????? Dear me no, no, a thousand times no.


Pesto (as it should be)

Handful pine nuts (no other nuts work as well and pine nuts also stop the pesto browning on exposure to air)
Large handful FRESH basil leaves c 100 gram (you can grow it yourself on a sunny windowsill)
2 cloves garlic
150 ml olive oil (extra virgin if possible)
50 grammes freshly finely grated parmesan (or half parmesan half pecorino or romano)
A 1/2 tsp sea salt

NOTHING ELSE!!!!

Dry fry pinenuts over low heat, shaking pan to prevent burning, until lightly toasted.

Grind nuts in small bowl of food processor, do not grind too fine. Grind garlic with salt in mortar to creamy paste, add to nuts. Tear basil roughly, add to bowl of processor and process until basil finely chopped and mixed with ground nuts. Add oil to bowl and mix in thoroughly with basil/nut mix (a couple of pulses in the processor will do and will also chop the basil). Remove from processor to bowl and stir in cheese.

You can also stir in 1 oz melted butter and/or 3 tablespoons ricotta directly before mixing with pasta though I find this tends to mute the vigour of the pesto slightly.

This quantity works with about 1/2 to 1 pound dry weight of pasta. Cook pasta, drain thoroughly, put in large bowl, mix thoroughly with pesto. Have extra parmesan in bowl to add to taste.

Works best with thinner pasta (eg spaghetti) but is also sensational with potato gnocchi.

Try pesto made this way and you will never buy it in a jar again, Nor will you want to use walnuts, brazil nuts, sun dried tomatoes or any other sort of heretical flim flam stuff in it.


Here's another good recipe

(from Marcella Hazan: The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking):
1 quantity of pesto as above
3 small new potatoes
8 oz young french beans
1 1/2 lbs spaghetti/fettucine (say 1 lb dry weight)
Boil potatoes in skins until cooked, cool, skin and slice thinly. Cook beans until tender, drain. Add potatoes, beans and pesto to pasta. Mix. Serve. Enjoy.

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Iain Noble
Hound Dog Research, Survey and Social Research Consultancy,
28A Collegiate Crescent Sheffield S10 2BA UK
Phone/fax: (+44) (0)114 267 1394 email:inoble@hounddog.win-uk.net
Hound.Dog@BTinternet.com
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