You can be forgiven if you think that most Americans have the view that Italian food is all pizza and spaghetti. It's not. In fact, there are so many variations of what's being cooked over there, no restaurant could possible serve it all! And that's where one woman from Great Britain takes on the task of trying to explain it. Vicki Bennison wrote the cookbook Pasta Grannies. She takes on Italy with a fresh eye for what's new and different and guides the kitchen chef through the various forms of authentic Italian cooking. She stopped by Tonia's Kitchen with a recipe for Lemon Pesto, which is a fresh, light offering from the island of Procida, just off the coast of Naples. Reflecting its seaside culture, Vicki told Tonia she uses lemon peel, lemon juice, a little sugar, almonds, parsley and basil to create this treat!
- 3.5 oz boxed spaghetti per person
- 3 large organic lemons, ideally from Procida
- 0.2 cup lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
- 0.4 oz flat-leaf parsley (or basil)
- 0.2 oz mint
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 0.2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1.8 oz Italian pine nuts (or walnuts)
- 3.5 oz Parmigiano Reggiano (or pecorino), grated
- Start by peeling the lemons; you only want the skin. A great way to remove the pith from the peel is to use a filleting knife, which has a flexible blade. Anchor the peel pith side up with a finger, then with the other hand press and slither the knife horizontally under the pith (away from your fingers, please), leaving the zesty skin. Chop the rinds finely. Strain the lemon juice to remove pips.
- Rough chop the parsley, mint and garlic and blitz all these together in a food processor with a pinch of salt, the chilli flakes and the oil until smooth.
- Roughly chop the nuts, add them to the mix and blitz again until you have a rough pesto paste.
- Add half the cheese and give it a quick zhuzh. Taste for acidity and, if needed, add tablespoons of water to adjust.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti for the time indicated on the packet. In the meantime take a large salad bowl and dollop in the pesto. Dilute with a ladle of hot pasta water to make it more of a sauce.
- Drain your pasta, keeping some of the pasta water. Toss the pasta with the pesto, adding in the rest of the cheese and adding more hot pasta water if necessary so the sauce coats the spaghetti. Serve immediately. This should be on your regular recipe roster!
