Zucchini pesto spaghetti
Oops. We’ve been doing pesto ALL WRONG. Well, pretty much wrong. We just heave all the ingredients into a food processor, blitz the hell out of them, then presto! Pesto! But according to the Consorzio del Pesto Genovese in Genova, tasked with protecting the iconic Ligurian cold sauce from bastardisation, true-blue Pesto Genovese is only made using the young, fresh leaves of Basilico Genovese, EVOO from the Ligurian Riviera, Mediterranean-grown pine nuts (1 tablespoon per 50g basil, per favore), and garlic, preferably Vessalico garlic, prized for being flavoursome yet delicate. Capisci? Oh and the cheese part is Parmigiano Reggiano and pecorino in a ratio of 3:1. Nessuna discussione! If you’ve been to Italy, you’ll know how regionally specific and culinarily pedantic things can be there. God love ‘em.
When making pesto properly, the basil is carefully hand washed and dried (we never bother but we probs should). Next, garlic, salt and pine nuts get smooshed to a paste using not just any old mortar and pestle, but specifically a Carrara marble mortar and a wooden pestle. (‘Pesto’ is from the Italian verb pestare, which means to pound or to beat, BTW). Then, the basil leaves are gradually worked in using a gentle rotary motion to release essential oils and extract optimal flavour, as well as smush the leaves smooth — working fast is recommended to avoid oxidisation. And if you read how Italians feel about using a food processor, no-one exactly forbids it but they’ll say the flavour and texture of the finished product just won’t be the same. Fair enough, but we think we can live with that. They do recommend chopping everything first though and finely grating the cheeses, not just turfing nuts and leaves into the processor whole. These steps minimise oiliness and banging up the basil too much. (Don’t bang up your basil!)
There are a few variations on Pesto Genovese in Liguria; some use walnuts, some ricotta (or prescinseua, a local ricotta-like cheese), and others wild fennel. But we’re pretty sure no-one incorporates grated raw zucchini into theirs and that the average Genovese would be horrified at the thought. And yet here we are. Who knows where the idea first came from; maybe as a way to deal with a zucchini glut? Or to sneak more vegetables into unsuspecting kids’ diets? Dunno. But it does taste rather good and is a nifty way to make your pesto stretch further (basil can be expensive and we’re tight-arses). Naughty Ligurians that we are, we pretty much heave the basil, pine nuts and parmesan in to taste, time-honoured ratios be damned. We use as much garlic as we like too; no one tells us to lay off the garlic! Sometimes we use lightly toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts but please. NO cashews, sunflower seeds or other weird stuff. We’re rule breakers to a certain extent but we don’t really want the Ligurian pesto police on our tails.
SERVES 4
400g dried spaghetti
basil leaves and freshly grated parmesan, to serve
Zucchini pesto
300g (about 3) zucchini
1½ tsp table salt
2-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
50g (⅓ cup) pine nuts, lightly toasted
60g (⅔ up) grated parmesan
2 bunches basil, leaves removed (save a few for garnish)
125ml (½ cup) extra virgin olive oil, approximately
For the zucchini pesto, trim and grate the zucchini, then place it in a large sieve. Sprinkle over the salt, toss to combine, then stand over a sink for about 30 minutes or until the zucchini wilts. Using your hands, squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can, then transfer the zucchini to a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Process until a smooth paste forms, adding extra olive oil as needed to achieve a creamy paste. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper; you shouldn’t need any more salt but feel free to heave in a little if you think it needs it.
Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil, then cook the pasta according to the packet directions until al dente. Reserving about 80ml (⅓ cup) of the pasta water, drain the pasta, then return it to the pan over low heat. Add the pesto and a little pasta water to loosen it a bit, and toss well. Divide among bowls, top with some basil leaves and grated parmesan to taste, then serve.
