Pesto with Pasta

 Just in case you, as I have a tendency to do, think shopping in your very favorite Natural Foods store is, or should be a foolproof experience, forget it already.  No one here is owning up to who actually bought the cheese in question.  It was either him or I.  But, in any case, shouldn't have been in that place at all.  Here are the rules, according to the if-it-looks-like-a-duck theory (if you'll hang in there with my rant):

1. If it looks like orange processed cheese,
2. If it tastes like processed cheese,
3. It resists mold beautifully,
4. It will stay in a tidy little square when heated,
Guess what, it is processed cheese.  Duh. So much for that.  Do what you will with it.  Maybe you love processed cheese.  In that case, my apologies.

I have gone over these salient facts with the employees of said store, with a request for proper labeling.  This was labeled "Smoked Sharp Cheddar."  And, do you know what I was told?  No, you don't.  So, I'll tell you.  That cheese is our very best seller!  Yes, folks, true, which fact, you would scarcely believe from checking out the customers here.  Perhaps we're dealing with a throwback to childhoods in less enlightened times.  The flavors of mommy's kitchen?  Comfort food?  End of rant.

You have heard about a picture being worth a 1000 words, right?  Well, this little video says it all about the perfect Pesto and the perfect Pasta. Just watch Chef Paolo Laboa prepare both, you'll see what I mean.  So, that was my goal this week.  To do both, perfectly.

All that aside, this very (seemingly) simple pasta dish was quite lovely.  And, I made the pasta twice, improving on my technique and getting the dough thinner.  Next time will be even better, I'm sure.  It was not all that difficult.  There are good video instructions here on rolling the dough out, which the above mentioned chef neglects to completely show us.  Plus, I can see that this will make lasagna a more feasible operation in future  (for me anyway).  Look for it next week.

So, the first thing to do is to make your favorite Pesto.  Having a nice bunch of CSA kale, as well as a bunch of basil, I made a combination Kale Basil Pesto.
In the first video, Chef Laboa makes his Pesto in a mortar to get that beautiful creamy consistency.  I wonder if that is even possible with kale?  At any rate, I tried, switched to food processor, then back again .  It was a bit much, all that parboiled kale, water squeezed out, to fit in the mortar and pound.  Splatting up and out the sides.  You get the picture.

It's okay though.  We liked the consistency, not completely smooth.  I do still want to try his version however. Also, next time perhaps I'll use all pine nuts.  In this I used part macadamia nuts.  Set the peso aside, covered.

Now make your pasta.  I used Ruhlman's Ratio recipe for basic pasta, only substituting some white wine for one of the eggs, as per Laboa.

Basic Pasta

 2 large portions

3/4 cup flour (I used 1/4 cup whole wheat spelt) and the rest white all-purpose
1 egg
2 tablespoons white wine (depending on size of egg)

Watch both videos for best instructions if, like me, you've never done this before.  Bring a large pot of water to boil, with a good tablespoon of salt.  You'll notice I should have used a larger pot.

Put the pesto in a saucepan.  Do not heat.  Slip your cut pasta squares into the boiling water gently, and boil a few minutes.  Ladle some of the cooking water into the Pesto, stir and then slide the drained pasta in.

Plate and sprinkle each serving with more Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.  We both enjoyed the big tender  folds of pasta, dressed with vibrant green, tangy pesto.  This dish goes off to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Katie of Thyme for Cooking.