More experiments with tinned fish

I am employed again (yay!), and that means I've fallen behind on almost everything. Especially the laundry, but anyway...

I'm still experimenting with tinned fish and having a lot of fun with with it. I found this recipe searching for things to do with anchovies. Special thanks to my friend Allison for being a guinea pig. 

Our ingredient list:

• 6 oil-packed anchovy fillets
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed (always fun to take a mallet to something 😁)
• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup walnuts
• 3 Tbsp. double-concentrated tomato paste
• 2 red Fresno chiles, split lengthwise, seeds removed
• 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3 oz. finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• ½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more
• 1lb. spaghetti
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

I did run into a snag when shopping: none of the places I get groceries from had Fresno chiles. I must have missed their peak season, which is a pity because I have other plans for a large amount of them.  Fortunately, I usually have a jar of Calabrian chiles in the fridge--this jar was chopped ones--so I used a heaping soupspoon full and then threw in a little more. 

Besides that, I found this was quite easy to make, which makes it good to have when company comes. You don't have to neglect them for long to cook.

Step 1

Cook anchovies, garlic, oil, and walnuts in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until walnuts are deeply golden and garlic is just beginning to turn golden, 4–5 minutes. (your kitchen is going to smell fantastic. My guest guinea pig was quite happy) Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until it turns a shade darker, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

I let it cool closer to 15 minutes. I have had the experience of having too-hot things in the blender. You do not want to know, trust me. 

Step 2

Transfer walnut mixture (including the oil) to a food processor. Add chiles, lemon juice, 3 oz. Parmesan, and ½ tsp. salt. Pulse until a thick paste forms.

Step 3

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1½ cups pasta cooking liquid.

Step 4

Scrape pesto into a large bowl and add butter, then pasta and ½ cup pasta cooking liquid. Using tongs, toss pasta vigorously, adding more pasta cooking liquid if needed (you may not need all of it), until glossy and well coated with sauce.

I didn't need any additional pasta water besides the original half cup. This emulsified beautifully. 

Step 5

Divide pasta among bowls. Season with more salt and top with Parmesan.

Optional Step 6

Do Ahead: Pesto can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill.

This was delicious, filling, but not too heavy, and layers of umami dancing on the tongue. I definitely will be making this again. 

If you try it, let me know!

Have you seen the price of pine nuts lately?

 Admittedly, one can use walnuts in a basil pesto, but one day way back when, I was feeling whimsical and I ground up some salt & pepper pistachios and tossed them with olive oil and pasta and loved the result. More recently, I bought some pistachios and thought I'd try to find a recipe that could improve on that impulse, and Food and Wine had the perfect solution:

• 7 ounces unsalted roasted shelled pistachios (1 1/2 cups) (get help shelling them, this took me about 49 minutes, or one episode of the Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me podcast)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup finely shredded pecorino cheese, plus more for serving
• 2 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths and julienned
• Salt
• 1 pound orecchiette (I had spaghetti in the pantry, so that's what I used)

In a food processor, chop the pistachios. (I recommend doing this in batches because the smaller bits of nuts will sink to the bottom. You can probably use a blender. I have a small food processing unit that came as an accessory to my stick blender) Add the olive oil, mint and garlic and pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the 1/2 cup of cheese and the scallions; season with salt. 

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the cooking water and the pesto and cook over low heat, tossing, until coated. Serve, passing more cheese at the table.

I recommend a bit more of the cooking water because it will help prevent the cheese from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Here's my final result:

I might have put on more cheese after I took the picture. This is a deeply satisfying dish. The mint leaves a coolness at the end of a bite. The Romano gives a bit of a feel of cacio de pepe, but elevated with the pistachio for richness, and there's a tiny bit of bite from the scallions. I can't find anything I'd change, which, if you've been reading me for while, is damn rare.

What's your favorite pesto?

It didn't really go with the soup

When I made the curried cauliflower soup several weeks ago, I wanted something fresh and herbal to go alongside it. I thought, "cilantro," which often comes as a garnish on curries. I also figured chicken, to keep things light.

I came across this recipe on Epicurious and was sufficiently intrigued. I love pesto in many shapes and forms. Basil, sun-dried tomato, olive, and a cilantro one seemed like just the ticket. I did however, make one major change, and then when eating the leftovers, one minor one. I'll be interested in what y'all think.

• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup salted roasted macadamia nuts 
• 1/4 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 7 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin (I went with boneless thighs here. They're cheaper, have more flavor and I really don't like poultry skin)

The big change I made was not switching out the breasts for thighs, but I substituted cashews for the macadamia nuts. I already had to buy the cashews and I thought this would tie the two dishes together.

Allons-y!

Combine first 5 ingredients in processor (If you don't have a processor, you can use a blender, but be prepared to dig a lot of the pesto out from under the blades). Blend until nuts are finely chopped. Add 6 tablespoons oil and process until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until brown and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. 

Transfer chicken breasts to plates. Top each with some pesto and serve.

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As you can see from the title of the post, they didn't go well with the curried cauliflower soup. On their own, they're delicious, but the pesto was a bit thick and it really needed a little bit of acid somewhere. Nexx suggested lime juice, which I squeezed over the leftover. That made a lot of difference and is definitely on the list of things to use when I make it again. Possibly a touch of black pepper as well, but only a touch. I'm excited to make this for friends because it's so different. It's also suitable for the friends I have on low-carb diets, though some Old Bay potato salad with crispy onions might work for those of us who do eat carbs.

If you make it, with cashews or macadamias, let me know!

You can also friend me on Facebook and comment there. Just let me know you read the blog when you send the friend request.

Cheers!

By Request--Pesto without a processor

A while back Beki asked, "When are you going to make pesto?"

Time to start researching. Over at the Food Network, there was this one and this one which both called for a food processor. Not what I wanted. You may recall that my search for a blender with a food processing attachment at the local mall resulted in a plain blender.

Then I found How to Make Pesto like an Italian Grandmother. Let me hear you say, "Bingo!" How could I turn away from this one? I used to live across the street from an elderly Italian couple, and Mrs. Patrica liked to feed us. The trick was to go over there when you were totally starving, and if you protested, "No, Linda, I'm not hungry," for about a half an hour, the food would come at a (slightly) slower pace. It was from her that I learned how to make tomato sauce. She threw in pork chops and started simmering. When the meat fell off the bone, it was ready to serve.

But anyway. Another nice thing about the above link is it gave me an excuse to buy more kitchen toys. After some shopping around, I found

My sweetie was the one that turned me on to Wusthof knives, and the price on this one is a steal.

Some folks out there think pesto is pretty complicated, but it really isn't. One of my favorite type of recipe is that which tastes like it took hours to cook, but really was only a few minutes.

1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried I plucked and washed about an hour before I started chopping, laying the leaves on a layer of paper towels, then blotting them with another layer.
3 medium cloves of garlic I shoulda listened, but by now you know that I can't leave a recipe alone. I used four large. My suggestion--start with the three and taste as you go along.
one small handful of raw pine nuts I have pretty small hands, but this turned out to be too much. I am guessing my hand holds about a quarter cup. Next time, I plan to reduce that and use about three tablespoons.
roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED'nuff said
A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil I used more than few to bring it all together.

Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves. Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the rest of the basil, chop some more. I scrape and chop, gather and chop. At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince. Add about half the pine nuts, chop. Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop. Add half of the Parmesan, chop. Add the rest of the Parmesan, and chop.
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I love this method, I really do. It takes a lot of the tedium out of simply chopping, I really felt I was making something instead of just prepping ingredients.

I did toast my pine nuts with a little olive oil first. I just happen to like the taste better. My sweetie mentioned that he appreciated it.

The knife and board worked like a dream. When the bowl of the board got too full, I emptied the pesto into a small bowl, and mixed in the FRESHLY GRATED (just had to do that) parmesan.

It took me a little longer than the half hour described, but in the end, I had a garlicky basil pesto. Like I said, shoulda listened. I also should have tasted more as I went along.

I tossed my concoction, after adding olive oil, with some basil and garlic linguine, and served it alongside a nice piece of steak, and a salad of baby romaine leaves, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basalmic.

In the end, I thought it was too garlicky. My test audience says there is no such thing as too much garlic, but on later reflection, thought there could be a few less pine nuts and a little more cheese. I'll be visiting pesto again in a month or so.

Have a recipe you want me to try? Questions? Comments? Let me hear from you!