Sunday:                        Grilled Swordfish with Wine-bottle sauce, Corn and Zucchini Salad

Monday:                      Chopped Salad with Jalapeño-Ranch Dressing

Tuesday:                      Oklahoma Onion Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries

 

Wednesday:                Chicken Tacos with Strawberry Salsa and Queso Fresco

Thursday:                    Dinner on the terrace at PFC

Friday:                         Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Salmon

Saturday:                     Pizza with Frankie’s Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Besto Pesto Pasta

We have finally, in weather-blessed Pittsburgh, been visited by the steamy condition that has clung like a hot, wet blanket to so much of the country in July and August.  But, of course, we have air-conditioning, an electric grid not so dependent on green energy that we need to have rolling blackouts and, not least, the shade of our nearly ubiquitous forests – a little slice of heaven.

Our current thermal anomaly has put a premium on cooking indoors where the heat and humidity and the bugs can’t get at the most important person in the house – the cook.  And this necessity, along with a vestigial Roman Catholic inclination to eat seafood on Fridays, led us to try a New York Times Magazine recipe from the Sunday before last.

This dish is a special treat, so luscious and rich that you really can’t have it two weeks in a row.  It is a mixture of fish, cheese and pasta that seems to defy all the rules.  But when you taste it, you will throw out the rule book.

We’re going to introduce you to another pasta this week.  I figure you know how to grill meats and vegetables and, in any event, it’s too late in the season for you to learn.  If you need a break from the steak and pork and chicken, which Greta Thunberg tells us are destroying the planet and your doctor probably tells you is having the same effect on your body, here it is:  Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Salmon.

I can hear some of you saying that this is the second blog in a row featuring pasta.  This was also noted by my editor (boss, owner) and by other hangers-on of the blog and beneficiaries of our cooking.  The mere question is heretical.  Pasta, along with beer, gin, wine, Klondikes and Sophia Loren are God’s great gifts to man.*  And do you really want to be broiling, along with your food, over a hot grill in 90 degree weather with 85% humidity?  I thought so – so stop the kvetching and enjoy this great pasta.

*My editor tells me that I should have included George Clooney in this list.

Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Salmon

(adapted from Meliano Plasencia, NYT Magazine, 8/27/23)

Timing:                                                  40-50 minutes

Ingredients:                                               Serves 3

8 ounces cavatelli or other short pasta

8 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp (small to medium – we had large shrimp and simply chopped them into bite-sized pieces after we cooked them)

8 ounces boneless, skinless salmon, cut into 1-inch dice (if the better looking salmon at your store has skin, buy it and skin it yourself)

4 loosely packed cups (2 oz.) of basil, plus some more for garnish

2 loosely packed cups of flat parsley

½ cup grated parmesan

½ cup grated pecorino romano

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup canola oil

3 garlic cloves, sliced (we used a few dashes of garlic salt)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

5 ice cubes

Prep:

Fill a large pot with water, put in two handfuls of salt and put it on the stove to boil.

Make the Pesto

Toss the basil, parsley, parmesan, pecorino romano, garlic and canola oil in a large bowl.  Transfer the mixture into a blender, add ¼ cup of olive oil and top with the ice.  Blend on high speed, pressing the mixture down and scraping the bowl from time to time.  Add more olive oil if you feel the need – you’re looking for a very smooth, pale green (very green) pesto.  Season to taste, then blend again.  Set aside.

Finish the Dish:

Add the pasta to boiling water and cook according to package instructions for al dente.

Meanwhile:  Five minutes before pasta is done, season the shrimp and salmon with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet over medium high or a little less – turn down if you see any burning.  Now add olive oil to just coat the bottom.  Add the seafood and cook, stirring, from time to time, until almost cooked through – maybe 2 minutes.  You are not looking for pink shrimp or cooked salmon at this point.

Now add ¼ cup or so of the pasta water to the seafood and keep cooking, shaking the pan from time to time, until most of the water is gone.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pot you cooked it in.  Add the seafood in the skillet to pasta and then, off the heat, add the pesto and toss gently for a good while to coat everything.  Correct seasoning if needed, garnish with more basil and serve.