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UNDER THE LIGURIAN SUN

PESTO
Ingredients:
8 oz. very fresh basil (if possible, use leaves from plants not yet in blossom)
1/2 cup pine nuts (or toasted walnut kernels)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbs. Parmigiano
1 tbs. Pecorino
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt

Preparation:
Wash the basil leaves and dry with a clean cloth. Place in a mortar. Add pine nuts, the garlic and a pinch of salt. Pound these ingredients with a circular motion of the pestle. Carry on until you achieve a soft green paste. Put the paste in a bowl and gradually drip in the oil. Mix well and set aside. Add cheese just before using, and more oil if necessary.

The preferred pasta with pesto is trenette. Boil the water with the addition of a finely sliced potato.
Cook pasta in the usual manner, drain, reserve a small amount of the water. Before dressing the pasta add a little bit of the water to the bowl with pesto and gently stir in order to obtain a fluid creamy sauce.

Toss the pasta with pesto (the potatoes will have disintegrated to form a grainy texture on each string of pasta so the sauce can cling better to it).
Add a little cooking water if the pasta is too dry. Toss well and serve immediately. Pesto may also be used for minestrone genovese
Note: 4 oz. pesto should be enough for 1 lb. of pasta.

Walnut Sauce
(Salsa di Noci)
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. walnuts, shelled
2 oz. fresh, crustless bread
3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs. fresh marjoram
salt
1 clove garlic
1 cup cream

Preparation:
Scald the walnuts, and peel off the skins. Dip the bread in water and squeeze out most of it. In a mortar pound the walnuts together with the bread, garlic, marjoram and salt to achieve a smooth paste. Place the mixture into a mixing bowl, drip in the olive oil, stirring constantly. Add the cream, stir well.

This sauce is very good with pasta or with roasted or boiled white meats.

Chickpea Polenta
(Panizza)
Ingredients:
9 oz. chickpea flour
4 tbs. olive oil
4 cups water
scallions
salt
pepper

Preparation:
Sieve the chickpea flour finely. Pour it slowly in hot water and stir and stir. Cook slowly for about on hour, stirring often.

The mixture will come off the sides of the pot when ready. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into serving dishes, drizzle with oil, chopped scallions, salt and pepper and serve hot.

Sea Biscuits with Smoked Fish Salad
(Condiggion)
Ingredients:
4 gallette (sea-biscuits)
4 tbs. olive oil
8 oz. tomatoes, peeled and seeded, (not sliced)
6 oz. sweet peppers, cut into strips
1 fresh cucumber, sliced
6 oz. fish roe (bottarga or musciame) thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 head leafy lettuce
1 tbs. vinegar
few basil leaves
salt

Preparation:
Drizzle the sea-biscuits with water and vinegar. They should not soak through entirely, just get them wet to soften. They will become soft and not soggy. Remove the excess liquid and place into a salad bowl, sprinkle with a few drops of oil.

Wash and cut up the vegetables, keeping them separate, and set aside. Chop the garlic and basil and set aside.
Slice the fish roe into fine slices and set aside.

Now place lettuce leaves on top of the gallette, season with oil, vinegar, the chopped basil and garlic, and salt.

Add a layer of musciame, a layer of tomatoes, a layer of cucumber and a layer of sweet peppers. Add oil and vinegar again.
Repeat starting from lettuce seasoning each layer as you go along. The last layer should be the air dried fish. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Sun-dried Tomatoes
Ingredients:
ripe, firm, medium size tomatoes
basil leaves
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:
Clean the tomatoes with a wet towel, cut them in half length-wise, remove the seeds, put them over a grate with the open side up, and sprinkle liberally with salt (if they are not salted enough, they will become moldy).

Leave them in the sun for 4-5 days, turning occasionally, and taking them indoors at night. At the end of each day, drain the water they will have oozed.
On the last day, wash the basil leaves and let them dry over a cloth in the shade. Put the tomatoes halves back together, placing a basil leaf in the middle of the cut, and press well.

Then place them in layers in a clean, dry jar. Press well, add some peperoncino and a clove garlic if you wish, cover the tomatoes completely with oil, close the jar with an airtight cover and store it. They will be ready for consumption in 2 weeks.

Tomatoes prepared like this can be served as part of an antipasto or as side dish for boiled and broiled meats. If you cannot dry the tomatoes outside because of the weather, you can dry them in a warm oven (pre-heated and then turned off).

PANDOLCE
Ingredients:
1 lb. flour
1 oz. baker's yeast
salt
1/2 glass Marsala
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbs. orange flower water
butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs. raisins
2 tbs. diced, candied squash
2 tbs. pine nuts
2 tbs. peeled pistachio nuts
1 tbs. anise seeds

Preparation:
Mix the yeast into 12 cups of lukewarm water, add 4 tbs. flour and mix till you get a smooth, elastic dough. Cover and keep warm until doubled in size. Make a fontana with half the flour.

Put the risen dough and a pinch of salt in the middle. Knead together, adding as much warm water as necessary for the dough to be elastic. Put the dough in a large, buttered floured and sugar dusted bowl and set in a warm place for about 18 hours.

Make a fontana with the remaining flour. Put the Marsala, softened butter, orange-flower water, and sugar in the center and knead until elastic and smooth. Add the pre-risen dough, the raisins (previously softened in water), squash, pine nuts and pistachio nuts and anise seeds.

Shape the dough into a ball, place it on a buttered and floured baking mold and let rise in a draft-free, warm place for about 12 hours.

Cut a cross on the top of the cake with a sharp knife and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F for about an hour. Cool, slice and serve.

Almond Cookies
(Amaretti)
Ingredients:
1 cup sweet almonds
1 cup bitter almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar
5 egg whites

Preparation:
Blanch and toast the almonds. Peel and chop them very finely or crush them in a mortar with 1/2 cup sugar.
Add the vanilla, beat egg whites till stiffened, then fold in the almonds. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. Pipe 2 l/2-in. wide rounds about 1 1/2 apart on a buttered baking sheet and flatten them a bit.

Sift the confectioner's sugar over the tops and let stand at room temperature 1-2 hours. Pre-heat the oven to 350lF and bake for about 20 mins. Remove from oven and cool.

Buon appetito!

 

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