Monday, September 8, 2008

pesto, orzo, and zucchini


Friday morning I got some baby yellow squash and zucchini at the Farmer's Market and for dinner you scarfed down a huge amount of orzo, baby zucchini (grated and thrown in with the orzo 3 minutes before draining pasta) and Nano's pesto (based on the recipe from Everyday Food):

* 1 cup walnuts or pine nuts
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 8 cups (4 ounces) lightly packed fresh basil leaves

* 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

* 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until golden and fragrant, tossing once, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, bring 4 cups salted water to a boil; add basil, and submerge with a spoon. Immediately drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water until cool, then pat basil completely dry in paper towels.


3. In a food processor, combine nuts, basil, and garlic; season generously with salt and pepper. Process until nuts are finely chopped. With machine running, pour oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until smooth.