Patio Fare Featuring Pesto and Focaccia

Sundays are definitely meant for relaxing; and today was no exception. The day started with a cup of hot tea and watering my patio plants. Then it was in the car and off to Oma's house for coffee (well, she and my mom had coffee; I had more tea). After a nice visit, I drove to my parents' place and wandered around the garden with them; smelling the roses and looking at all the things coming up in the vegetable and flower beds.

Mom and I both had a bit of a nap, and then around 2pm we woke up and decided we better do something productive with our day. So we decided to make lunch. (I know, extremely productive of us.)

My mom has been on a bit of a bread baking binge. She had made some sun dried tomato focaccia bread the day before, and I knew there were some tomatoes and a container of burrata in the refrigerator. We also keep cubes of pesto in the freezer. So it only seemed natural to make a Toasted Focaccia with Fresh Tomato, Burrata and Pesto Mayo sandwich.

First, we took the focaccia bread and sliced it in half horizontally. Next, we thawed the pesto cube and mixed it with a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise. This was spread over the open faced focaccia. Then came slices of ripe tomatoes, followed by bits of burrata. Little bit of ground pepper, sprinkling of Kosher salt and a a bit of dried oregano over the top. Here it is ready for the oven.

We baked the loaded bread for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees; just long enough to heat the bread and tomatoes without melting all of that beautiful burrata.

Once out of the oven, we drizzled it with some rosemary balsamic reduction. Man oh man, was it good! The three of us (mom, dad and myself) enjoyed this quick and easy lunch with a fresh green salad with shredded cold chicken and crumbled corn tortilla chips.

A nice internationally festive lunch on a lazy Sunday in May.

Genoa / Genova - Part One

Today was Day One in Genova. This morning I took the train from Asti to Genova. The weather here is not good. When I arrived it was threatening to rain. Luckily, there are all kinds of street vendors harassing people passing by to buy their umbrellas. These guys sure do know their target market.

The place I am staying is called Morali Palace.  My room is on the fourth floor of a building from the 1700's. The room is nice with a great view of the harbour. It is located in the Piazza della Raibetta, very close to the Aquarium, which is one of the largest in Europe. The aquarium has a domed-like structure that is remarkably similar to the Expo Ball / Telus Science World (or whatever we are now supposed to call it) back home in Vancouver.

After checking in I decided to walk around the city for a little bit.

Genova is the capital of the province of Liguria, and is the sixth largest city in Italy. The city has a nickname of La Superba (the glorious one), due to it's rich history and many impressive landmarks. Several buildings within the city have been recognised as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The city has a vibrant art, music, food and history. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus and Niccolo Paganini.

The city's name is derived from the Latin word for knee (genu, plural genua). When looking at a map of Italy, Genova is located just under the "cuff" of the "boot" right where the knee would be. So this makes perfect sense.

The first place I came to was Piazza de Ferrari. There is a beautiful round fountain in the center of the square. The square is surrounded by both financial and art buildings. These include the Palace of the Doges (Dukes), the Theatre Carlo Felice; home to opera and ballet performances, The Ligurian Academy of Fine Arts and the Stock Exchange building.

There are many churches and cathedrals in Genova. The most noted is the Cattedral de San Lorenzo, with its striking black and white striped exterior. The cathedral was first founded in 6th century AD, and through various stops and starts and fires and additions and refurbishing, was finally completed the way it looks today in the 17th century. That's a VERY long time to build a church. There are a number of exceptional artworks and frescoes within the church, as well as a 15in shell from WWII, which struck a corner of the naive but failed to detonate. It is proudly displayed, with the inscription (in Italian):

This bomb launched by the British fleet while breaking through the walls of this great cathedral here fell unexploded IX February MCMXLI. A perennial gratitude of Mary, the city of Genoa wanted engraved in stone the memory of such grace.

Time to eat. Genova is famous for its pesto and fresh focaccia, so those were first on my list of things to try. I found a little pizzeria, and sat down and had myself the BIGGEST pesto pizza you could imagine, along with some red wine.

After dinner I wandered around a little more, but by that time it was starting to rain. Walking back to my palace / hotel, I was not five minutes in the door before the thunder started and the lightening began to flash. Hopefully it will all blow over and tomorrow will be a beautiful day for site seeing in this historic city.

Perfect Pesto

Every summer my mom and I make pesto using the basil from her garden. The plants get to be quite large; about waist high and two feet across. Lovely leafy green stuff. Just before the plants start to flower, it's time to pick.

You need a fair amount of leaves to make a good batch of pesto. For every 1 cup or 8 oz of pesto, you need about 8 cups of leaves. If you can, it's best to make a double batch and freeze it (more on that later). But if you just want a small amount for a pasta sauce or to spread over some prawns or chicken, then the batch can be halved to produce less.

There are many recipes available out there in Interwebz Land for pesto but honestly with time we have created our own and basically now just eyeball it with our tastebuds. The basic ingredients are the same though.

fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
ground pine nuts (though we have used ground almonds as well)
ground parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the cheap stuff that comes in a green and red shaker ..cough, cough)
2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (not the paste or the pre-minced stuff from a jar; you want the garlic to be fresh)

Having a food processor is also pretty essential. I suppose it could be done in a blender, except probably in smaller amounts and the end result may not be as smooth. The use of a food processor also allows me to drizzle the oil in while it's still running, which would cause quite a mess if attempted while using a blender.

So, to begin . . . .we strip all the leaves off the stalks. These then go in the food processor. Let 'er spin until the leaves are all munched down into a dark green goo. If you're going to add the garlic cloves, now would be the time. Start to drizzle in the oil until the mixture starts to turn more freely. Then add in the ground pine nuts and parmesan, adding more oil to get a nice, smooth consistency. It usually works out to:

1 cup / 8 oz of pine nuts
1 cup / 8 oz of parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup / 12 oz of the oil.

Give or take.

Once it's all blended and tasty, it's read . Well, sort of. You can use it right away but we have found it's better if it sits at room temperature for about an hour before using. This allows the flavours time to blend. Then it can be used in a sauce, brushed over chicken, or with a bit more oil; and a marinade brushed over prawns.

We don't like to store leftover pesto in the refrigerator. We find the oil separates from the other ingredients and the garlic becomes stronger somehow. Instead, we fill an ice cube tray with the remaining pesto, cover with wax paper, and freeze. Then we pop the cubes into a freezer bag. When needed, the pesto cubes are a perfect size to quickly thaw out, and we only need to thaw as much as what's needed.

Just remember to thoroughly wash the ice cube trays out before using them again for making ice. There was an incident once when bits of greenery were left behind and the resulting ice cubes were slightly green. Now the running joke is "rye and ginger, hold the garlic and greens."