Pizza to Pesto
(by Lorraine) After using a tabletop electric oven for so long, we were excited to finally get a huge gas-heated oven a few days ago. How to break it in? The first thing I thought of was pizza. Specifically, a simple but elegant Margherita- thinly sliced ripe tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, a hearty chunk of mozzarella cheese on a thin and crispy crust. Meat-free, and perfect for Lent.
Now I knew the oven had the capacity to be very hot, much hotter than I was used to with our little electric model. But I didn’t realize just how hot. To make a long story short, after five minutes of baking, my “perfect” pizza was burnt to a black-bottomed crisp. I had ruined our dinner.
I did, however, have some fresh basil left over. There was a nice chunk of parmesan cheese in the chiller, half a pack of shelled walnuts left over from last week’s Baklava bake, and some uncooked penne pasta in the pantry.
So, to dinner:
Quick Pesto Penne
While penne is cooking, throw the following in a blender: 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 cups fresh basil leaves, � cup shelled walnuts, 4 cloves chopped garlic, salt & pepper. Blend for a few seconds, or until the pesto is well-mixed. It will be thick and creamy, but still pourable. Once pasta is cooked, drain in a colander, transfer to a large bowl, and pour on pesto sauce. Mix well. Serve.
Had I found some pine nuts in our pantry, the pesto would have been more traditional- but the walnuts worked out very well. The penne was delicious with a glass of chilled fruity red wine, but best of all, the pizza was forgotten.