because of the ongoing concern on potentially contaminated food from the north area of japan due to the recent nuclear radiation, i have been quite picky about the place of origin on any food i buy. i understand that any contaminated food would not be allowed to be sold in the market, but i would feel better if the food comes from as far away as possible from the affected area. i feel slightly guilty towards the affected farms for my behaviour because it it not their fault at all. but on the contrary, i don’t want to take any risk if i don’t have to.
anyway, when i was in a grocery store a couple of days ago, there was a stack of beautiful green basils which were made in okinawa (the south most island of japan). i thought that surely these leaves were radiation free… so i grabbed a pack and put it in my basket.
i had pistachio nuts at home, so i decided to make pesto genovese sauce with them. it’s super easy and quick to prepare, and it comes out so tasty.
salsa di pesto genovese (for 2 people, with 200g pasta (used penne this time)
20 – 30 basil leaves
1 glove of garlic
75g pistachio nuts (shelled)
3 table spoons of olive oil (extra virgin)
salt & pepper to taste
2 – 3 table spoons of parmiggiano leggiano (grated)
1. in a food processor, put the basil leave, garlic and pistachio. start the processor with low speed, and once the nuts are crushed a bit, put the speed to high. keep it for 10 seconds or so.
2. once the ingredients are nicely mixed, put the olive oil and salt (a bit more than a pinch) & pepper to taste. start the processor for another 10 seconds. the ingredients get mixed and become paste-like texture. the sauce is ready.
3. cook any kind of pasta you like, and once cooked, mix it with the pesto sauce, and add the parmiggiano. mix a few times.
4. as preferred, serve the pasta with extra sprinkle of parmiggiano & olive oil.
buonappetito!
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 