Linguine with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans

                                               Artwork by Peter

I’ve been making Trenette col Pesto Genovese for years, toiling over the homemade pesto, boiling and peeling the potatoes, and grating the Parmesan myself. Baby and I wanted a simple Sunday lunch recently, over a glass, or two, of a crisp white wine—so I cut to the chase and made the whole thing in about a half an hour. An accompanying, spirited salad composed of just lettuces and a resolute vinaigrette was entirely enterprising!

The actual recipe from Saveur is here and below. I found a good ready made pesto (or a pre-packaged brand name pesto such as Buitoni might work as well, I imagine) which already has Parmesan cheese in it. A bag of microwavable haricot vert green beans were ready in a snap. Instead of peeling the potatoes and boiling them, I purchased a can of Gefen whole potatoes, which I think are quite good! The Del Monte variety is also surprising.

So here’s what to do: while the water for the 1lb. of pasta gets to a boil, halve the potatoes and broil them with a drizzle of olive oil until nicely browned. While cooking the pasta in salted water, put the beans in the microwave for the required 2-3 minutes and let sit to cool for a minute or so before handling. 

Strain the pasta, reserving a 2 tbsp. of the pasta water to bind the sauce, drain the oil from the potatoes and toss all of the ingredients together, adding the delicate potatoes in at the end. Top with grated Parmesan, grind some black pepper to it and done! 

Here we have something that is truly elegant and yet quite hearty—and nearly as delicious as it would have been had I doubled the time and effort. Although our Trenette col Pesto Genovese may be served anytime, I usually only make anything involving wildly evocative basil in the summer.

Do enjoy!

Trenette col Pesto Genovese
Ingredients
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp. pine nuts
2 cups small basil leaves (tightly packed), washed and dried
Coarse salt
1⁄2 cup grated pecorino sardo or parmigiano-reggiano, or ¼ cup of each
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Ligurian (or another mild and fruity oil)
1⁄2 lb. green beans, trimmed
1⁄2 lb. new potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
1 lb. trenette, tagliatelle, or linguine

Instructions
Crush garlic and pine nuts in a large mortar to make a smooth paste.

Add basil to mortar a little at a time. Crush to a coarse paste, grinding leaves against side of mortar with pestle. Add a pinch of salt and continue crushing, then gradually stir in cheese.

Drizzle in olive oil and continue working until pesto is very smooth and no large pieces of basil are visible. Set aside.

Cook green beans for about 3 minutes in boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon. In the same water, boil potatoes until tender, about 5–7 minutes. Drain, cool, and slice.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and cook pasta until tender, about 8–10 minutes. Drain, but reserve 2 tbsp. pasta water and add it to pesto.

In a large serving bowl, toss pasta, green beans, potatoes, and pesto. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately.

 
VARIATION: To use a food processor, place pine nuts, garlic, and salt in the processor bowl and blend to a paste. Add basil, drizzle in oil, and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in grated cheese by hand.

Just For The Halibut

This was totally off the cuff: I just happened upon a Martha Stewart recipe I had printed out in 2007 for Halibut with Grapefruit and Rosemary. I had planned to make dinner for Baby and me and since we already had halibut in the refrigerator courtesy of a fisherman friend, I went out and bought some Del Monte SunFresh red grapefruit segments, Florida's Natural Ruby Red Grapefruit juice and fresh rosemary. Seemed to me to be a pretty good way to welcome in the summer. Ms. Stewart's recipe naturally calls for exacting work, such as trimming the pith from two ruby red grapefruits, etc. but my trimmed down version of the recipe is easier and simply fantastic for a simple evening at home, served with a side of Corn and Shrimp Salsa, which is my own recipe.

Halibut for Two (adapted from marthastewart.com)

2 cups Ruby Red Grapefruit juice

8 segments from a jar of red grapefruit segments

1 sprig plus 1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 Tb sugar

Salt and black pepper

Olive oil

2 pieces of skinless halibut, sized to your appetite

-Preheat broiler

-Pour juice, rosemary, sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 tsp salt into a small saucepan over medium heat and let boil until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes or so. If sauce becomes too thick, simply add a little more juice to thin out

-Brush fish with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes

-When juice mixture has been reduced to a fragrant syrup, toss out the rosemary sprig, and add the grapefruit segments to warm up
-Drizzle over your fabulous fish, each dish topped with the segments, divided between the plates

Corn and Shrimp Salsa

I thought a nice side would be a corn and shrimp salsa as we also had some deveined Black Tiger shrimp in our freezer, which was easily thawed by spraying cold water over them in a colander for two or three minutes. I roasted three ears of corn in a 450 degree oven, coating them with lemon olive oil, extra virgin oil, lime juice and salt and black pepper. Grilled shrimp (about two minutes each side in a Calphalon grill pan) was also done so in both oils and more pepper. I chopped the whites and some of the green ends of two scallions and put them in an accomodating bowl, and covered with the still steaming shrimp, some salt, and lime juice. The roasted corn was easily shaved off the cob once cooled, the kernels falling into the other ingredients of the salsa mixture. Spoon a heaping portion on a plate alongside the halibut.

Halibut and salsa...just for the hell of it!