Homemade Pesto with Fusilli and Sausage

Summer is the season of fresh and light cooking. When it’s 80 (or shudder, 90) degrees out, I only want salads, fruit, lightly tossed pastas — basically anything that requires minimal effort and as little heating as possible. Who wants to waste time in the kitchen when there is sunshine, glorious sunshine, to play outside in?

To me, basil is one of those quintessentially “summer” things, right up there with watermelon, corn and barbeques. Its spicy sweet smell permeates the farmer’s market only in the warm months, just begging to be torn and tossed with quickly charred cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fruity olive oil in a bastardized version of a caprese (the tomatoes must be cooked — no fresh caprese salads here).

Pesto, its saucier counterpart, is a blend of basil, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan and pine nuts. I inhale it on salads, pasta or even just baguette, but sadly, it never occurred to me to make it myself until two weeks ago, on a pizza that Mili, Milan and I made together. It’s a shame, since it takes less than five minutes to make, with ingredients you probably already have on hand.* But now that I know how easy it is, I’m never going back to store-bought. If fresh and easy are a prerequisite for summer meals, it doesn’t get any better than this.

*As you’ll notice, my recipe below does not include pine nuts. They were $10.99 (!) for a small tub at Whole Foods, which is about $5.99 more than I would even have considered paying.

Homemade Pesto with Fusilli and Sausage
Serves 2

For the pesto:

– 2 ounces fresh basil, tough stems removed

– 2 large cloves garlic

– 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or Pecorino, if you have that on hand)

– 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or more, if you like your pesto a little looser)

– salt and pepper, to taste

1) Blend the basil and garlic in a food processor or blender until chopped coarsely, about 30 seconds. Add the cheese, salt and pepper and pulse until combined, an additional 30 seconds.

2) Stream in the olive oil while blending until the sauce comes together. This should take a minute or two.

To make the pasta:

– 6 ounces Italian sausage (2 large links), sliced

– 6 ounces whole wheat fusilli (or any other short pasta)

1) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. When the pasta is cooked, drain all but 1 tablespoon of the pasta water. Do not rinse.

2) While the pasta is cooking, saute the sausage slices in a skillet until browned, tossing occasionally. When the sausage is cooked, remove the skillet from the heat. Toss in the pesto to coat the sausage pieces in the sauce.

3) When the pasta is done, add it to the skillet with the pesto and sausage. Toss to coat evenly. Top with Parmesan or Pecorino if desired.

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