September 4: Pistachio Pesto

1 can spam
4 hot dog buns
1 pint grape tomatoes
4 apples

Cut the spam into 4 equal portions. Put the spam on a stick and roast it over an open fire. Put the cooked spam on the hot dog buns. Serve with apples and tomatoes.

4 SERVINGS

Ok, so this is not Rachael Ray's recipe for pistachio pesto. This is just to show you what I ate as camping food. It was good, but I'd rather have pistachio pesto. I made it last year and marked it a keeper. It was very good. Here is the recipe:

Coarse salt
1 pound linguine or fettuccine
1 cup shelled pistachios
About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium zucchini, julienne cut
Coarse black pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 to 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some to pass at the table
Tomato and onion salad or mixed greens
Good breadHeat a pot of water to boil for the pasta. When it boils, salt the water and add the pasta, cooking al dente (with a bite to it).


Heat a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the pistachios and toast for 5 minutes to develop their flavor. Remove the nuts from the pan and cool. Raise the heat a bit and return the pan to the stove. Add 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, then the zucchini. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to cook for 3 minutes more.


While the zucchini cooks, grind half the nuts  with the parsley, mint, and cheese in a food processor. Stream in about 1/3 cup of the EVOO and proocess until a paste forms, then season with salt and pepper.


Drain the pasta. Add the pistachio pesto to the zucchini. Add the pasta to the pesto and toss to coat evenly, then toss in the remaining whole toasted nuts. Adjust the seasonings and grated cheese and transfer to a serving platter or plates. Pass more cheese at the table.


4 SERVINGS

Here is RR's tidbit: "The next three recipes are really unusual pestos (one of my favorite things!) and I eat so much of them, that all I serve with the pasta is a salad. Since I eat salad after dinner, it's rare that I even save room for it! If you like, you can beef up the protein (pun intended) by serving any of these pastas with grilled lamb chops, beef tenderloin steaks, chicken breasts, or pork loin chops alongside. Sinply marinate any of the meats in just enough balsamic vinegar to coat, a healthy drizzle of EVOO, and salt and pepper, then broil to the desired doneness. With the Pistachio Pesto, scrod or haddock broiled with lemon and EVOO is lovely."

The only thing I changed was to add the salad and bread to the ingredient list. She lists it at the beginning of the recipe, so I usually forget about it.