Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, May 7, 2008 at 4:30 PM
You’ll definitely have some leftover pesto if you make this whole recipe, but that’s kind of the point. Pesto freezes remarkably well, and can be thawed in moments. Since I had made a large batch a week before, I was able to throw this meal together in approximately 10 minutes. Sure, my fish flaked apart into a hundred pieces when I tried to flip it, creating one of the uglier meals I’ve had in ages (that’s why there is no photo), but it was tasty.
I picked this from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook. And it’s not really a recipe as much of a technique. Have pesto? Jamie provides seven other simple meals to throw it on top of. That includes roast chicken, mussels, bruschetta, and grilled vegetables. I was feeling like fish. And the pesto certainly livens up the white fish, giving it an automatic freshness without much work at all.
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Posted by Mario Batali, December 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Most purists in Italy consider any sauce for any fish to be nearly heretical, but in Liguria, the herbacious bath of pesto has the weight of barely floral scented spring and early summer breezes so, the odd exception is often made.
In this case the particularly briny shrimp from the Mare Tirreno marry well with a pesto with less cheese than normal and a slight increase in the pine nut content. The first time I tried this was at a seriously relaxed place on the high end in Portofino callled Il Splendido. There is a pool terrace and then a casual restaurant in the garden where they serve lunch only to high-roller Euro types and American heiresses who missed the boat to Clooney's house over on Lago di Como and where, despite the often kiss-kiss-mwah crowd, the food is actually killer.
They serve these marinated shrimp on the salad buffet (I know what you're thinking, and it is not that way here; it is truly exquisite), but they also do a piatto del giorno with a fresh puffy pillow of focaccia genovese, piled with shrimp, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and giant, nearly bitter arugula leaves. Two glasses of local vermentino and a plate of green melon and the nap by the pool puts you into the dreams of Gian Vincenzo Imperiale.
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Posted by Mario Batali, September 20, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Pesto has always seemed perfect in September. The kind we eat in the U.S. is traditionally pesto Genovese, but stop the press! There are more kinds. Yes, more uncooked herb-based pasta condiments, from all over the fucking place.
Here is Pesto Pantesco. They make it on the island of Pantelleria, 70 kilometers due south of the Aegadian Islands just west of Trapani in Sicilia. No surprise they harvest the Rolls-Royce of capers in Pantelleria, and it is a groovy place for all good food and great water color.
Put this in your pipe and smoke it.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 30, 2007 at 1:30 PM
The first recipe that caught our eye in Cucina Del Sole is a simple pesto made with fresh tomatoes (it is after all vine-ripened tomato season) and toasted almonds. As Jenkins herself writes: "For those who think pesto comes only from Liguria and always includes masses of basil and pine nuts, this delicious alternative may come as a surprise." She also opines that although this pesto can be made in a food processor, she prefers to make it with a mortar and pestle.
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Posted by Alaina Browne, May 18, 2007 at 1:36 PM
The lovingly illustrated food blog Lobstersquad's list of tips for preparing and storing pesto inspired me to hunt down a few pesto recipes.
Gourmet's recipe is pretty typical and easy to make, but if you have more time and patience it is probably worth following Heidi's suggestion and making pesto like an Italian grandma -- chop chop chop and chop some more!
We like Tom Colicchio's straight-forward approach to green things, and have adapted his recipe below. This one's all about the basil.
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