Courgette Pesto (with Gorgonzola Ravioli)

I feel I have to come clean about one thing before I start - the ravioli in the picture are not homemade. We do make our own pasta but it's definitely a weekend activity and as this was a mid-week meal, I'm afraid the ravioli came from a deli.

Having cleared that up, I can announce with great joy that this is a random recipe.The Random Recipes challenge is the brainchild of Dom from Belleau Kitchen. Its aim (in his words), is 'to encourage us to use our recipe books more whilst also being more adventurous with our cooking... to shake up the 'everyday' chef and bring out a few little ideas we may have never tried before...'. It's a great concept and I'm delighted that I got organised enough to actually enter this month, albeit rather late.

The theme for March is Cuttings and Clippings. Like most of us, I have a couple of files bulging with recipes ripped out of magazines, hand written scraps of paper and photocopies of photocopies, origin unknown. My cookery books also occasionally yield up forgotten treasures from within, the scrawled sheets fluttering to the floor as I flick through their pages. Not wishing to flout the rules of the challenge, I closed my eyes and took my chance. My random selection was this 'Pesto di Zucchine', a clipping from an Italian food magazine called 'Sale e Pepe'. Although I probably cut it out about four years ago, I had never actually made it so the Random Recipe challenge ethos certainly worked this time.

My favourite pesto still has to be the classic genovese recipe, that magical mix of basil, pine nuts and pecorino, tossed simply with some al dente linguine. This pesto had a very delicate flavour which I don't think would work on its own with normal pasta but when paired with filled pasta like tortellini or these ravioli, it compliments the taste without overpowering.

This post is making its way over to Dom at Belleau Kitchen for Random Recipes and I'm hoping I'm still in time for Pasta Please, from Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, hosted this month by Jen over at Blue Kitchen Bakes.


       


RECIPE, from Sale & Pepe magazine, Dec 2008

300g courgettes
50g fresh basil leaves
30g pine nuts
a clove garlic
50g fresh parmesan, grated
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Slice the courgettes and fry gently in a tablespoon of olive oil. After a few minutes, add the crushed clove of garlic and continue cooking for about 15 mins until the courgettes are soft and golden.

Put the courgette mixture in a blender or food processor together with the basil, pine nuts and enough olive oil to make a thick paste, probably about 5 or 6 tablespoons.  Blend until smooth and stir through the grated parmesan at the end.

Cook whatever pasta you're using until al dente and toss everything together gently.  Serve with a few basil leaves scattered over and a shaving or two of parmesan.

Tomato, basil and mozzarella pasta

Red, white and green, the Italian flag (and coincidentally, the colours of Y Ddraig Goch, the Welsh Dragon) on a plate. Yes, it's another dish based on my favourite Italian trinity of mozzarella, tomato and basil (for other recipes featuring these flavours have a look at Insalata Caprese and Baked pasta with mozzarella and tomatoes). I make no apology for this, I happen to think that the combination is simply perfect for the warmer summer weather.

The recipe below is for a standard, hot pasta dish. However, Italians often prepare this as a cold pasta salad in the hot summer months. If you want to try it like that, cook the pasta until just al dente, then drain it and refresh in cold water. Then simply toss the other ingredients with the pasta, without cooking them, omitting the onion and dressing with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil.

As there's still time (just!), I'm sending this over to Laura (this month's host) at www.howtocookgoodfood.co.uk and Nazima of  Working London Mummy for the July One Ingredient challenge - Tomatoes.

RECIPE - serves 3-4

350g pasta (any 'short' kind, I used fusilli)
7-8 large tomatoes
125g ball mozzarella
half a small onion or 1 shallot
extra virgin olive oil
handful fresh basil

Chop the onion or shallot very finely. In a frying pan, heat enough olive oil to cover the base and add the onion/shallot. Cook gently until very soft, about 10-15 minutes. 

While the onion is sweating, prepare the tomatoes. First, you have to peel them, not a particularly pleasant job but worth doing for this dish. The easiest way is to score a small cross in the skin of the base of the tomatoes. Place in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave for a minute, then place the tomatoes in cold water and peel off the skin. After peeling, roughly chop.

Chop the mozzarella into small dice.

In the meantime, cook the pasta in lots of boiling salted water. When the pasta is almost ready, add the tomatoes to the softened onion and cook for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper. 

When the pasta is al dente, remove from the heat, drain well and toss with the tomatoes and onions and the fresh basil, roughly torn. Just before serving, scatter the diced mozzarella over the pasta and gently mix it in, drizzling over a little more olive oil.

NB: Don't be tempted to mix the mozzarella in any earlier because it starts to melt as soon as it hits the heat and instead of it being evenly distributed through the pasta, you end up with a mass of melted mozzarella that won't mix in! I speak from experience...

Insalata Caprese - tomato and mozzarella salad

Now, I know that you probably don't actually need a recipe for this salad but I include it more as a reminder really. It is an all-time favourite of mine, simple and yet utterly delicious, perfect for lunch at this time of year. It requires almost nothing of you in the way of preparation, ready to eat in less than 3 minutes, but in such a simple dish the quality of the ingredients is paramount. The basil has to be as fresh as possible and the tomatoes must be ripe and full of flavour (don't even think about making this in winter!). Make sure that they haven't just come out of the fridge either, the cold diminishes their flavour. Olive oil is used alone here so make sure it's the best - this is the time to use your single estate, cold pressed, unfiltered extra virgin stuff. Oh, and the mozzarella should be from buffalo milk (although I have to confess that I love this salad so much I even enjoy eating it with the bog-standard rubbery mozzarella from supermarkets).

As you can see from the photo, I don't go in for the classic 'Caprese' presentation as I find the overlapping spiral of perfect slices rather clinical and austere. I just tear the mozzarella, roughly chop the tomatoes and pile it up on a plate - so much more inviting and just begging to be devoured.

RECIPE (for one person)

a ball of mozzarella (buffalo if possible)
a handful of tomatoes (any size or variety as long as they've got flavour!)
fresh basil leaves, about 5 or 6, or to taste
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Roughly chop the tomatoes and tear the mozzarella into chunks. Place on a plate, scatter over the basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. (I use black pepper too because I think it really enhances the flavour of tomatoes but you would never see it in Italy).
Serve and eat.

Baked pasta with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

I've been making this baked pasta dish regularly for years although I do tweak the recipe from time to time. This is my current favourite but there are different versions of this eaten all over central and southern Italy. It's simple Italian cooking at its best, using few ingredients and no fancy techniques to produce a delicious, crowd-pleasing meal. It can be prepared in advance so it's extremely useful for feeding large groups of people; indeed, in Italy it often features as part of a celebratory meal.

I usually use penne but you can use whatever shape of short pasta you like.

RECIPE - serves 4

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
600g passata or chopped tinned tomatoes
2 balls mozzarella, roughly chopped
bunch of fresh basil
freshly grated parmesan
400g penne

Cook the pasta in the usual way, in a large pan of salted, boiling water.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the passata. Add salt and pepper and simmer gently for a few minutes; you only really want the sauce to heat through, it shouldn't be reduced at all. Remove from the heat and stir in the fresh basil leaves, roughly torn.

When the pasta is 'al dente', drain it and mix with the tomato sauce, the chopped mozzarella and a good handful of grated parmesan.

Toss it all thoroughly and put in an ovenproof dish. Cover with another generous grating of fresh parmesan.

At this stage, you can either cook it straight away in a pre-heated hot oven (200°C) for about  20 mins or you can keep it in the fridge for up to a day and cook it just before serving. In the latter case, it will need about 30 mins in the oven. When it's ready it should be golden, crispy and bubbling.