{"id":1730,"date":"2005-08-02T01:25:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-02T01:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2005\/08\/02\/trofie-al-pesto-with-drama-and-a-departure"},"modified":"2015-09-24T03:54:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:54:20","slug":"trofie-al-pesto-with-drama-and-a-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/08\/trofie-al-pesto-with-drama-and-a-departure\/","title":{"rendered":"Trofie al pesto, with drama and a departure"},"content":{"rendered":"

I may be a crybaby, complete with a mortal fear of needles and a dread of loud noises, but I\u2019m nobody\u2019s drama queen. I like to think of myself as remarkably rational, finely calibrated to operate at a nice, even keel. That\u2019s not to say, though, that I don\u2019t like to spice things up every now and then with, say, a little spontaneous weepiness on public transportation, or maybe a good bout of psychosomatic something. <\/strong>For instance, after my graduation from college, I spent the entire three-day drive from San Francisco to Oklahoma City propped stiffly in the front seat, wracked with heartburn, able to think of nothing but the glorious life I was leaving behind and of the certain doom that lurked in the land of my birth, that place of horrifying humidity and 3.2%-alcohol beer<\/a>. Obviously, I\u2019d developed some rare and deadly new form of acid-reflux disease. I was dying; there was no other possible answer. You can imagine my delight, then, when I found that my heartburn, along with my anxiety, quickly dissolved into a glass of wine and disappeared into the blessedly powerful air-conditioning vents of my childhood bedroom.<\/p>\n

So given my uneasy relationship with drama, I wasn\u2019t entirely surprised to notice that, in the hours after Brandon<\/a> boarded a plane to return to New York<\/a> after a miraculous five-week West Coast<\/a> visit, a strange lump formed in my throat. This was no mere soreness; it was physically hard to swallow. How unoriginal of me, I thought, a little disappointed. I could have aimed for a less clich\u00e9d psychosomatic ailment, or at least something that wouldn\u2019t hamper my food consumption. <\/strong>What I really needed was a sudden knock from a New Yorker at my door, but short of that, I would settle for another forkful of trofie al pesto<\/em>, rustic, homemade, pesto-slicked noodles that go down easy, no matter how big the lump in your throat, real or imagined. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The night before, Brandon and I had hovered together over a flour-dusted counter, turning tiny lumps of pasta dough into rough, nubby spirals. It was activity tailor-made for stretching a moment into slow motion, for cold beer<\/a> in retro Champagne glasses, for saying goodbye to the curly-haired boy standing next to me in his underwear, an improvised outfit for a warm night in a hot apartment. We churned fresh basil into a lush, nutty paste and blanched slender green beans until steamy; then we coaxed the noodles into the boiling pot; and, sitting down at the table, we pulled the plates up under our chins, trapping noodles and beans between the tines of our forks, sighing our way to the bottom of the bowl<\/strong> and through to the other side, where there waited morning, a jet engine, and that strange tightness that settled around my throat.<\/p>\n

Never mind the fact that it turned out to be a simple swollen lymph node\u2014a perfectly rational response, you will note, to a dry Seattle summer\u2019s high pollen count. Somewhere between the last bite of trofie and the next ticket to New York, I\u2019m still a certified crybaby.<\/p>\n

Handmade Trofie al Pesto<\/strong>
Adapted from Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian*
<\/em>
Trofie<\/a>, otherwise known as Ligurian gnocchi, might not be the simplest, quickest pasta shape to make\u2014allow plenty of time, preferably with a glass of something alcoholic and a handsome partner\u2014but they certainly are among the loveliest to eat. In all honesty, ours looked nothing like the picture-perfect corkscrews on the pages of the book, but they were beautiful in their own right, delicate, rustic, and with a good, al dente chew.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
We tossed them with green beans, which appealingly mimic the pasta\u2019s shape, size, and texture, but skinny asparagus, lightly blanched, would also be delicious. The original recipe also calls for thinly sliced boiled potatoes to be tossed into the finished dish, but for the sake of summery lightness, we left them out. And just for the record, this is the most delicious, well-balanced basil pesto I\u2019ve ever eaten. Until trying this recipe, I\u2019d been a devoted fan of James Beard\u2019s formula, but well, sorry, big guy.<\/p>\n

For the pesto:<\/em>
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
2 heaping Tbs pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
Coarse salt
\u00bd cup extra-virgin olive oil
\u00bd cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, tightly packed, plus more for serving<\/p>\n

For the trofie:<\/em>
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra to work with
1 tsp salt
Water<\/p>\n

For finishing:<\/em>
\u00bd lb haricots verts or small green beans, trimmed (we may have actually used closer to \u00be lb\u2014it\u2019s hard to refrain from gluttony when it comes to sweet summer beans)<\/p>\n

For the pesto, place the basil leaves in a tall, thick, narrow glass. Using a citrus reamer, muddle the leaves until they are dark green and pasty; the total volume should reduce by about half, and they should have released quite a bit of liquid. Set aside.<\/p>\n

Place the pine nuts, garlic, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade attachment, and blend them to a paste. Add the basil and its juices, drizzle in the oil, and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the Parmigiano.<\/p>\n

For the trofie, sift the flour and salt together into a mound on a clean, dry surface. Use your hand to make a well in the center; then pour in about \u00be cup water. Using a fork, gradually incorporate flour from the inside edge of the well into the water. As you stir, add another \u00bd cup water. When the dough becomes too stiff to work with the fork, flour your hands, and knead until the dough is soft and no longer sticky. [You may find that you need a bit more flour; we added about 2 Tbs.] Push the dough to one side, clean your work surface and your hands, then flour both again, and knead dough until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes more. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel, and set it aside for half an hour.<\/p>\n

Clean and flour your hands and the surface again. Pinch off a pea- to chickpea-sized piece of dough, and roll it between your palms to form a fat matchstick. Place it on the floured surface. With your palm facing down, turn your hand up to a 45-degree angle, so that the edge of the pinky-finger side of your palm is resting on one end of the matchstick. Gently but firmly, roll the matchstick back toward you to form a thin spiral. Repeat to use all the dough. This will take practice and time, but be patient. Don’t worry if the trofie are a bit more like worms than like corkscrews: as long as they are all roughly the same thickness and shape, they will be fine. As the trofie are made, transfer them to a lightly floured parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet.<\/p>\n

Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water over high heat until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon, and cut them into 2-inch lengths. Transfer them to a large serving bowl.<\/p>\n

Cook trofie in the same water over high heat until they float to the surface, 3-4 minutes. Reserve a small cupful of the cooking water, and then drain the trofie into a colander and transfer them to the large bowl with the green beans. Add pesto to taste, and splash on a bit of cooking water to obtain a nice, slippery, lightly sauce-like consistency. Taste for salt, and serve, passing a little bowl of grated Parmigiano.<\/p>\n

[Note: You will have leftover pesto, but don\u2019t worry: it keeps well, with a thin film of olive oil over its surface, in an airtight container in the fridge, and it freezes fine too. And for further convenience, note that the pasta dough will keep for a day or two in a plastic baggie in the fridge, should you want to split the recipe and enjoy fresh pasta over two nights.]<\/p>\n

Serves 6 as a first course, or 4 as a main course.<\/p>\n

*Special thanks to B, of <\/span>Culinary Fool<\/span><\/a>, for helping me to procure this beauty of a book.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I may be a crybaby, complete with a mortal fear of needles and a dread of loud noises, but I\u2019m nobody\u2019s drama queen. I like to think of myself as remarkably rational, finely calibrated to operate at a nice, even keel. That\u2019s not to say, though, that I don\u2019t like to spice things up every now and then with, say, a little spontaneous weepiness on public transportation, or maybe a good bout of psychosomatic something. For instance, after my graduation from college, I spent the entire three-day drive from San Francisco to Oklahoma City propped stiffly in the front seat, wracked with heartburn, able to think of nothing but the glorious life I was leaving behind and of the certain…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrofie al pesto, with drama and a departure | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/08\/trofie-al-pesto-with-drama-and-a-departure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trofie al pesto, with drama and a departure | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I may be a crybaby, complete with a mortal fear of needles and a dread of loud noises, but I\u2019m nobody\u2019s drama queen. 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