Ok, this is from the
series "Italian Recipes Most Non-Italians (and even some Italians) Don't
Know"!
A great summer recipe
if you have a bumper crop of basil in your garden or if you can buy fresh basil
in large quantities. This recipe requires a food processor, unless you want to
use a mortar and pestle.
The
"Testarolo" is a typical flat bread of the Lunigiana region of
Tuscany. That would be the most northern tip of Tuscany that borders on Liguria
to the east and Emilia Romagna to the west. Basically it is a batter about the
consistency of pancake batter that is cooked on a terracotta (or cast iron)
"testo", a special baking dish used directly on hot coals.
Fortunately, for me, I can buy it at the grocery store.
If you can't find a
"testarolo" or don't want to make one fresh, you can serve your pesto
with pasta.
Ingredients:
This will make a large
quantity of pesto, which you can keep for several days in the refrigerator.
about 2 cups of
loosely packed fresh basil (about 2 ounces)
a scant half cup of
extra virgin olive oil
about 6 walnut meats
(the original recipe calls for pinoli nuts, but in my house no one likes them
so I use either walnuts or pecans)
1 clove of garlic
50 grams Parmigiano or
Grana Padano cheese (about 2 oz)
pinch of sea salt
(regular will do)
Wash and dry the basil
leaves
break the cheese up
into small pieces, remove skin from garlic clove
Place the nuts, garlic
and cheese in the processer and process on high until it starts to form a
crumbly paste
Add about half of the
basil, half of the oil and the salt to the processor. Process on high until a
cream starts to form.
Add the rest of the
basil and oil to the processor and process on high until the pesto is the
consistency you want.
It should look something like this.
Put a large pot of
water on to boil, and if you are using a testarolo cut it into 1"
pieces
When the water comes
to a boil, add the cut up testarolo. It only has to boil for a minute or two.
Drain as you would for pasta, season with pesto (you will need about 1/3 of the
amount this recipe yields) and serve.
If you are using
pasta, cook 4 servings of pasta according to the package directions, season with about 1/3 of the pesto sauce and serve.
Buon appetito!!
Looks good, what is the consistency of the testarolo after cooking, like pasta or a little more chewy?
ReplyDeletemmm it's "different" - you can cook it al dente or more cooked
ReplyDeleteit is very good - we will make it when you are here
I bought a testarolo in Riomaggiore a week before you posted this. I'm looking forward to trying it with pesto! :)
ReplyDeleteI am sure it will be delicious! Let me know!
DeleteDonna