Epic fail, or how NOT to make basil pesto

Some days, I work myself into a snit. I wind up in such a foul mood that I should really go to the gym to unleash all the pent-up frustration. Obviously, this never happens.

Today, I felt a foul mood coming on, mainly because I was working on a Sunday, again. I continued to work for a solid 9 hours, and I ignored the feelings of anger that were slowly rising. And then I made pesto. Boy, was that a terrible idea.

I had 9 dollars worth?roughly 170 grams?of Parmagiano Reggiano in the fridge (note: I rarely buy parmagiano because it is a little pricey, and my budget does not allow me that cheese, on top of all the others that I buy every week.). I proceeded to pulverize it in the blender. Then, I tossed into the blender all the basil that I had in the fridge (note: my basil was a little limp and sad looking because I got it one week ago, but hey, I refuse to let it go to waste!). And then, I looked at the blender, and I realized that I had 170 grams of cheese in there, and?if I'm lucky?1 cup and a quarter of fresh basil. That is really not the right ratio of cheese to herb for pesto! I ignored that fact and proceeded to blend. Some of the leaves puréed nicely, most of the basil just got stuck. I added olive oil and 2 small cloves of garlic, but it still wouldn't budge (note: this was really not helping calm my feelings of rage!). Finally, I transferred a portion to my mini-food processor (Great! Now I have 2 appliances dirtied and I have not even begun to cook anything), and that worked. I processed the mixture in batches. End result: cheese pesto with a hint of basil. This is not was I was trying to make at all. EPIC FAIL! (Can I crawl into bed now? I just blended my $9 block of parmagiano into cheese pesto! Yikes!)





Cheese pesto with a hint of basil

Makes about 2 cups

170 grams parmagiano regiano
1 ¼ cup fresh basil
2 small cloves of garlic
¼?½ cup olive oil
Grind up all the cheese in a blender, add the basil, garlic and olive oil.
Attempt to blend it.
Have a small hissy fit at the blender because it will not do the one thing you have asked it to do all week.
Transfer, in batches, to a mini food processor. Blend in batches in the mini food processor.
Combine batches in a bowl. Voilà!
I sulked over the cheese pesto for awhile. It was not pretty. It was not lady-like. It was sad.

Then I made risotto with it.

 

Cheese pesto risotto with squid and a hint of basil

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main dish

1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
900 mL vegetable broth
¾ cup cheese pesto
1/2 tbsp butter
20 frozen squid rings, defrosted (feel free to omit if you don't want/like squid)
Heat the broth in a saucepan.
In another large saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat with the shallot and celery stalk.
When the onion is just cooked, add the arborio rice.
Stir until the risotto goes becomes translucent.
Add a ladle-full of broth, and continue to stir.
When the broth is gone, add another ladle-full of broth, and stir.
Repeat several times.
Start testing the risotto when you've added ¾ of the broth.
Repeat until you have a risotto that is almost cooked (to your liking). Personally, I like my risotto cooked through, and just a little on the soupy side.
Add another ladle-full of broth (if you run out of broth, add a ladle-full of boiling water), the squid, and the pesto. Stir for about 5 minutes to cook the squid.
Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving. This allows your sauce to thicken, and also prevents you from burning your tongue (unless you are impatient as I am and like to eat it soupy even though you know it will do a number to your tongue).
Enjoy!




It turns out cheese pesto makes a delicious risotto! I probably broke a zillion Italian rules today, first with my pesto fail, and then by mixing seafood with cheese (Why are we not supposed to mix them? It tastes so good!). Stirring risotto is much more calming then going to the gym. My "epic fail" turned into a yummy, heart-warming dinner. I guess by now you have probably realized that I am just a drama queen sometimes!