The Perfect August Meal, Starring Pesto!

One of my favorite summer meals begins with a tomato salad of sliced, local heirlooms -- brandywines, black crims, Cherokee purples, green zebras, sunbursts, and other little golden and red cherry varieties. I like to place the platter in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then drizzle them with good vinegar and olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a handful of basil or arugula before serving. 

Meanwhile I'm pounding two cloves of two-minute blanched garlic in my big old mortar -- the Provencal marble kind sure are pretty (in the south of France they're usually displayed as doorstops when not in use), but I have a large wooden one that works well also. I begin with a pinch of salt and a few toasted walnuts and pine nuts, and begin adding a chifonnade of finely sliced, fresh, small, tender basil leaves.

I pound, mash, crush, and pound some more. This can be a lengthy process -- almost a two-glasses-of-wine kind of thing, because you have to add a bit more of everything as the process goes on. 

So it goes: pound the garlic and salt, add the nuts, pound and pound, add basil, and pound until the basil is almost pureed. Then have a sip of wine, add some grated pecorino and/or some Parmigiano, and keep pounding. Add more basil, and keep working it in. Add more cheese, a little fruity extra-virgin olive oil, and keep working. Add more basil, and have another sip. 

You're about a third of the way there.

So this continues for about 15 minutes, until you're satisfied with the coarse basil-nut-and-cheese paste, made semi-liquid by the juice of pressed olives.

As the pesto is "in process," boil a pot of water with tiny new potatoes and green beans. Once the pesto is complete, have another big sip of wine and sit down to your first course -- the tomato salad. As you sit, add the pasta -- spaghetti or linguini -- to the boiling water. This will take about 10 minutes. 

Excuse yourself, check the pasta, drain when ready, and reserve some of the pasta water. Add the quartered new potatoes, green beans, and a huge spoonful of pesto to the pasta, and toss with some of the pasta water. Taste and add more pesto, then serve in wide heated bowls with some grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper, passing the mortar for individuals to lavish a little bit more.

Then have some more wine, and ... count your blessings!