Share the Love

Have you ever gone over to someone’s house for dinner and while sitting there enjoying every single bite ask politely, what did you put in this? I did this recently. I was in food heaven, loving the texture, the flavours, the colours and I just wanted to recreate this little serving of heaven some other time. The answer was: “oh some stuff”.

Some. Stuff. Seriously? I was no longer experiencing deliciousness. With each bite all I could taste was secrecy and contempt.

There should be no such thing as a secret recipe, the very idea of this boggles my mind. You work hard creating a fantastic dish and now you don’t want to be forever immortalized in recipe boxes around the neighbourhood as “name’s famous apple pie” or “name’s chocolate chip dream cookies”?

I’ve never been one to guard my passions. If I love something, you know about it. So in the spirit of sharing the love, here is something I tried out today.

Happy Friday!

zucchini pasta with walnut pesto (adapted from Emma Petrie at pro bono baker)

3 small - medium zucchini (I used yellow and green)

pesto

3 tbsp walnuts

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove finely grated

1 cup packed parsley leaves

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (and more at the end to taste)

salt and pepper

Lightly toast walnut pieces in a pan with some olive oil.

In a food processor, process the walnuts until they have the consistency of sand. add the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and parsley leaves. Pulse until they come together in a green paste.

Using a vegetable peeler to shave off thin ribbons of zucchini. Add to salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. (just until zucchini is tender - be careful not to over cook). Strain zucchini and add 2 table spoons of the pesto, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2-3 servings (you will have left over pesto). This would be great with a rotisserie chicken and some mini red potatoes.