Can’t Get Enough Pesto, A New Love for Zucchette Pasta and a Shout-out for Gnocchi

The summer season rolled in, and I have been in a pesto frenzy. Since basil lasts but one day in the refrigerator, and I’ve been unsuccessful growing it myself given the foggy, cold weather in San Francisco (which is thankfully over, by the way),  pesto has been the natural answer. And, with the wonderful addition of ripe summer tomatoes, it has been pesto, pesto, and more pesto all summer long.

I recently discovered zucchette pasta at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, which is made locally and may be hard to find elsewhere. What I love about this pasta is the large basket-like structure that holds the sauce well. Other pastas that work well are orecchiette, campanelle, tortellini or linguine.

Gnocchi– I also made gnocchi for the first time the other night, and it was amazing. Gnocchi was never a personal favorite, but I’m singing a new tune after tasting the homemade version. It’s well worth it, if you don’t mind rolling up your sleeves. I used this recipe from Epicurious. I boiled the potatoes (although it’d be fun to see if baking makes a difference in the outcome) and used a grater (the larger sized holes) to grate the potato since I didn’t have a rice mill. It worked perfectly! I read that the gnocchi will be lighter if you grate it while it’s still hot, so you do need to use a towel or something to protect your hands in the process.

Also, as I cut the individual gnocchi, I later realized I should have placed them separately (not touching) on a floured sheet pan rather than piling them into a bowl. (They somewhat stuck together- luckily, it wasn’t a catastrophe thanks to copious amounts of flour.) I’m looking forward to making this again because it seems like the kind of pasta you could experiment with. I remember ordering it one night at Bar Tartine, and was surprised to find it was more like little hash browns the way they approached it that night. Yum.

The Pesto– Once you’ve made pesto a couple times, you don’t really need a recipe and can simply eyeball the ratios, tasting it as you go and making adjustments as necessary. It’s also very helpful if you have a Cuisinart. I’ve tried making it in a blender, and it never worked very well. The basic ingredients are 1-2 large bunches basil, ~ 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1-2 minced garlic cloves (be careful not to put in too much garlic or it over-powers here), generous salt and pepper. Place all the ingredients in the blender, except the olive oil and then while blending, slowly pour in the oil in a steady stream. You may need a bit more, depending on the consistency you like. Blend until smooth. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes that is more-or-less how I make it too.

For a pesto pasta dish–
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 small zucchinis, preferably different kinds, sliced medium to small
2-3 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1 inch size pieces
Handful of toasted pinenuts, if you still have some

Directions: While boiling the pasta, saute the onion until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the zucchini and saute for about 2 minutes (or more depending on the size of the zucchini- if it’s cut small it doesn’t take long to cook). Add about 1 cup pesto and stir in, heating, about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta when it’s ready, reserving a very small amount of the boiling water and toss with a touch of olive oil. Stir in the pesto, onion and zucchini mixture, adding in the tomatoes and pine nuts. Mix thoroughly until the pasta is well-covered, and serve.

Variations:

– Include sliced or diced mushrooms. In this scenario, after cooking the onion, add a pat of butter and a touch more olive oil. When melted, add mushrooms and stir for a moment. Then stir in a generous splash of dry white wine and saute mushrooms until starting to brown and most of the liquid has cooked off. Then add zucchini and proceed with recipe.

– Include chopped artichoke hearts. Saute along with the pesto to briefly warm.

Making Gnocchi

Black Beans and Colorado

Since I’ve been at Libre in Colorado, my meals have consisted of simple, vegetarian fare. One of my favorites has been variations with black beans, which seems somehow fitting in Colorado, just like wearing my boots around in the dusty terrain. (Boots never made so much sense.) The beans I’ve been making are from dried black beans and take a bit of time- mostly unattended- so I usually set them on the stove in the morning, and they’re ready for lunch or dinner. I make more than I need and then keep them in the the fridge for a few days, reheating on other occasions.

To get a bit of protein in my system, a favorite lunch has been black beans with a fried egg on top, usually sunny-side up. Accompanied with freshly sliced avocado and briefly sauteed spinach then makes for a tasty (and healthy) meal. For today’s lunch, I threw in a handful of cooked brown rice leftover from last night along with freshly cut corn and heated the whole shebang up that I served with crumbled feta on top, and the usual fried egg, sliced avocado and heirloom tomato. For dinner another night, I quickly stir fried zucchini, sweet pepper and corn, threw it on top of the beans and served it with mixed greens.

Regarding the beans- here’s the low-down. Rinse the beans first- say 2 cups or so. You don’t really need exact measurements- just eyeball a quantity that looks about like what you’ll want. (Remember, they do expand as they absorb water.) Once the beans are clean, place them in a saucepan and cover with water about 1 to 2 inches above the top of the beans. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, turn off the heat, cover and leave to sit for 1 to 2 hours. (OR, soak beans overnight, up to 8 hours, then you can skip this step and start at the next paragraph.)

When the beans are starting to soften (they won’t be ready yet), drain the water, reserving about a cup of the soaking liquid. From here on out, there are many variations, but this is what I’ve been enjoying recently. In a separate pan, saute 1/2 to 1 chopped onion and a minced garlic clove or two in a little oil, depending on the amount of beans and your taste. Mix them in with the beans. Add the reserved liquid and vegetable or chicken stock- again, enough to cover the beans by an inch or two. Add a dash or two of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme. Stir well. Sometimes I add a can of diced tomatoes with juice at this point. (If I have fresh tomatoes, I wait until later. Or, I add some to cook in with the beans to add flavor and then add additional fresh tomato when serving.)

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and begin a slow simmer, partially covered. Check beans every 15 minutes or so, and stir. The time it takes the beans to be completely softened varies, depending on the beans, altitude, etc. I’ve found I like to cook them at least an hour, sometimes as much as 2 plus hours. Keep tasting them and adding more salt and pepper along the way, as needed.

The stock/water will cook down into the beans. Add additional water if necessary, although it may not completely cook off. Once they’re done, I often keep the beans in the fridge in extra liquid which I use to reheat them later. I like to serve with chopped sweet peppers, which I’ll sometimes stir in, or serve on top. The same goes for ripe tomatoes or fresh sweet corn. You might also saute minced jalapeno to add a bit of spice.

For the amount of words it’s taken to explain, it’s actually pretty simple, although it does take a bit of pre-planning. Once they’re done, it’s great to have black beans around for a quick, tasty feast.