Organic Basil Pesto with Shrimp and Spaghetti

(TPCs Organic Basil Pesto with Shrimp and Spaghetti)

It was 115º here in Phoenix yesterday and the basil in my herb garden took a bit of a beating, so I threw together this pesto dish. Not my finest picture, sad to say, but it really tasted good, at least!

The name pesto, for those who don't know, is a derivation of "pounded" and the word pestle, as in mortar and pestle. A traditional Italian dish, it is an uncooked sauce and is terrific on hot and cold pastas and in pasta salads. It is typically made from basil along with garlic, toasted pine nuts, olive oil and grated parmesean cheese but spinach, cilantro, mint and parsley pestos have made their way into the marketplace over the years.

The important thing with pesto is that it must be made just before service to keep the bright green color. Without getting too technical, as basil is crushed chemicals inside and outside the cell walls are combined, creating a black result. A good way to cheat if you have to make it ahead is to use some Italian flat-leaf parsley in your pesto along with the basil. It will not brown quite as deeply so this is done a lot in restaurants. Parsley also gives a nice aromatic lightness that a lot of people like.

You can make pesto in a food processor, but this will really accelerate the blackening process because of the high speed and heat of the blades so be careful. Use a mortar and pestle! It's easy, very theraputic and it has a great Wow factor if you make it front of guests, just prep your ingredients in advance.

Here's my very 'scientific' technique:

1) Crush 4 or 5 cloves of garlic in your mortar, using your pestle. If you aren't garlic crazy, cut it down because raw garlic will become quite sharp with all the pounding.
2) Add 2 big handfuls of basil, grinding them down gradually to a rough paste.
3) Add a handful of toasted pine nuts and smash 'em up a bit. I used my toaster oven to toast these for the first time per Dr. Biggles excellent suggestion, though I found my toaster oven is a bit uneven so you might want to give them a shake halfway through.
4) Add a couple of handfuls of grated parm cheese, enough olive oil to make it somewhat pourable, stir then season TT.

I've been playing around with peccorino romano cheese a lot lately. It's a sheep's milk cheese I really like the flavor of but it's quite salty, which is why you should season your pesto at the very end.

Embellish with meat if you want. I had done a quick pan fry of some shrimp I had and tossed them with the pasta. Grilled chicken is terrific, too. Toss with your pasta and you're done.

What did you have for dinner last night?

Update- Someone asked me if I had used the Tibvrtini Extra Virgin Olive Oil I carry at Desert Island Foods™.com in the pesto.

Nope. That oil has so much character that although I could maybe see drizzling a bit of it on the top, it's a waste to use about a quarter of a bottle of an expensive oil in a pesto because there's so much other flavor there already. In a dish for dipping crusty bread in, absolutely, or drizzled on an organic green salad on the side would be amazing.

It would be decadent, though. I might have to try it next time...