New Year's Resolution #1: Listen to my friends
To sum up the slacked year and a half: I am in graduate school. The end.
On a recent trip home to NH, I checked on my parents greenhouse bed expecting to see frozen miniature plants, and lo and behold, I found some delicious leafy kale! What a sight in a landscape devoid of color. Green! Short and shout from the long cold nights and short days, there wasn't much to the plant, but I knew the flavor was perfect. If you don't already know that kale is better after it's been through a frost, consider yourself enlightened. It complete changes the flavor and texture into something quite magical. In fact, you can pack raw kale in the freezer and when you defrost it it's sweeter, still appears to be raw! I learned that one out of laziness, avoiding blanching before freezing.
The best part about this recipe is it is incredibly fast. If it weren't for the butternut squash, you could make this in the time it takes to boil water and make pasta. It would be perfectly delicious without it. But I love contrast, orange, green, winter, summer. The squash follows my leave-it-alone mentality. Chunk it up and forget about it in the oven. I suppose the hardest part of this recipe is peeling this damn thing. Worth the time, and if you get a big squash, you'll have plenty left over to use in something else. Or you'll find it tastes like candy and you eat most of it before dinner is served. That could also happen.
Winter Pesto
A bunch of kale, destemmed and washed
A bunch of kale, destemmed and washed
A cup of nuts or seeds toasted or raw, no salt (pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts, almonds, or cashews)
zest and juice of a lemon
2-4 cloves garlic
1/2 c good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c good quality extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
A hardy winter squash (butternut, buttercup, or kabocha)
1 pound pasta (a sturdy shape like orecchiette, rigatoni, spaghetti)
Cheese (Reggiano, sharp cheddar, anything aged, nutty, salty) or not
Start with the squash. Peel it and cut it into 1 or less inch chunks, toss with a drizzle of olive oil on a sheet pan. No seasoning. 400 for 30 to 45. Honestly, forget about it while you do everything else.
For the pasta, bring a big pot of water to a boil with a small handful of salt. That's right, handful. An exact measure would be at least 2 tablespoons. No oil.
While the pasta is boiling, whiz all the other ingredients, sans cheese, in the blender, cuisinart, or just chop finely by hand. The pesto is finished. It's hard for me at this point not to just eat the whole lot spread on bread.
Take out the squash. Salt and pepper the squash once it's out of the oven. Put it on top of the already tossed pesto and pasta. A dash of cheese, or not. A drizzle of really yummy olive oil, or not. Your preference.
To think that something so fresh could come out of a place with not a speck of green in sight. Where people cut holes in frozen lakes to jump in on the shortest day of the year.
This looks delicious, and I'm psyched to try this fuss-free way to prepare squash!
ReplyDeleteDo you accept requests? I'd love to read about the best way to cut and peel a squash, even if there isn't an ideal way. I'm also new to freezing/defrosting, and so far everything I've tried to revive from the freezer ends up watery and mushy. Tips?!
Looking forward to future posts, whatever they may be!
Annie
Annie, I cut the squash into two sections to begin, the neck (top of the peanut shape) and the body (where all the seeds are). The neck can be peeled quite easily with a regular knife, paring knife, or peeler. The body sometimes needs to be cut in half and dealt with one half at a time... usually a bit of a pain.
DeleteHere are two easy solutions to the pain-in-the-ass-ed-ness of peeling squash:
1. Peel as much as you can, lazily, then give up (roasted squash skin actually tastes pretty good and it is a misconception it's too tough to eat).
2. Get a peeler with a handle perpendicular to the blade. All chefs use these because they are easier. You can find them at most Asian markets or kitchen stores (there is one in chinatown in Boston for sure) for a dollar.