‘Pasta’ pesto with shrimps and lemon

Making your own pesto is such a rewarding and simple thing to do and it makes all the difference. My 3-year old loves to make pesto and she is handling the mortlar and pestle like she is born to do it.

Blend fresh basil, pine nuts, salt and some fresh garlic and then mash away until a paste forms. Then add grated hard cheese - parmiggiano reggiano or pecorino sardo - extra virgine olive oil, lemon zest and lots of freshly grated black pepper to the paste. Carefully blend everything until you have the most fragrant and wonderful paste - pesto.

Pesto originates from the Italian word ‘pestare’, meaning ‘to pound’ or ‘to crush’. The original pesto is from Genova, pesto alla Genovese, but there are endless varieties. Curly kale and walnut pesto is another favorite of mine. Or wild garlic and pistage pesto.

Cook some pasta of any kind, regular spaghetti is always nice, in salted water. (They say the water should be as salt as the Mediterranean Sea) Drain the pasta, but save some starchy water and return to the pot. Let it steam off and then add the pesto and the pasta water and start the beautiful art of ‘la mantecatura’. The movement of stirring the pasta in the end of the cooking process so that the starchy water and the fat from the cheese together with the movement itself creates a creamy and shiny sauce. La mantecatura is the cooking technique that radically changes the way all pasta and risotto dishes are coming together.

In the end, fry some sustainably sourced shrimps in a pan with butter and some sea salt. Top off the pasta with the shrimps, lots of lemon zest, fresh basil leaves and fresh black pepper.