Raw Blender Sauces for Pasta: Great on hot days!

This Pesto is a great twist on the Genovese staple sauce:

LEMON ZEST PESTO (Pauline Picchi)

2 cups of fresh basil leaves
1 cup of Myer Lemon Olive Oil
2-4 cloves of garlic, to taste
½ cup of toasted pine nuts
½ cup fresh Asiago Cheese
½ cup of pasta water
Pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
Boil pasta in salted water, save ½ cup of the water for the sauce.
Blend and serve on hot pasta, preferably Fusilli, or Penne pasta

This is a Sicillian Classic:

TOMATO ALMOND SAUCE

3 large ripe red tomatoes
3-6 cloves of garlic, to taste
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
½ cup of toasted almonds
½ teaspoon of red chili flakes
½ cup of pasta water
Pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
Boil pasta in salted water, save ½ cup of the water for the sauce.
Blend and serve on hot pasta. (Fusilli or Penne pasta)

This sauce, inspired by HMB's incredibly sweet peas, started out as a spread, and morphed into a pasta sauce after being inspired by Pauline's recipes above:

FRESH PEA AND MEYER LEMON OLIVE OIL SAUCE (Stuart Cristol-Deman)

3 pounds fresh peas, shelled
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Katz Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
Pinch of salt

Place raw peas and 1/4 cup oil in the blender with a dash of salt. Blend, adding more oil to get a slightly chunky consistency. Taste for salt and adjust if needed. Place in bowl and stir in reserved pasta water and toss. Goes great with ravioli, especially goat cheese ravioli. (I like the ones from Harley Farms.)

BROWN RICE and CHARD SALAD (Stuart Cristol-Deman)

This is a simple recipe that makes a great side salad, or add some beans, diced hard boiled eggs or cooked chicken for protein to make it more of a complete one-dish meal. Kids can help out or even make this recipe on their own with a little supervision. Remember, recipes are guidelines and you can play with them to create your own!

1 Cup Brown Rice, cooked (should make about 2 cups)
½ Cup Pine Nuts or Slivered Almonds
½ Cup Raisins
3 leaves Swiss Chard
1½ Tablespoons Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Le Colline de Santa Cruz Olive Oil
Pinch each of Salt & Pepper

Separate the ribs from the leaves on the chard by cutting down both sides of the rib with a knife. Thinly slice the ribs and set aside. Roll the chard leaves together and cut into thin ribbons.

Place the cooked rice in a large mixing bowl and add in the nuts, raisins and the chopped chard ribs and leaves. Stir a few times to mix.

Pour the vinegar into an empty spice jar and add the salt and pepper. Swirl to dissolve the salt. Add the oil, cover and shake well until combined. (You could also whisk this together in a small bowl, but I find this to be an easy method, and you can estimate the amount. I like a 2 part vinegar to 3 part oil ratio.) Pour about half the mixture over the rice and stir to combine. Taste, and adjust the amount of dressing and salt to your liking.

Enjoy!
Stuart Cristol-Deman
Stuart@MyToque.com