Pasta with green beans, roasted potatoes, and pesto, or, Jack Bishop is a god.

Jack Bishop's Pasta e Verdura is out of print, but can be had quite cheaply. This book has not only given me many great dinners, but it has also inspired me and given me the confidence to come up with my own recipes.

Last night we had this new-to-us dish and it already ranks with my favorites.

1 lb small red potatoes
1 lb green beans
2 cups loosely packed basil
1/4 c walnuts
1 clove garlic
salt/pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1. Cut the potatoes into 1/2" dice, toss with a couple tablespoons olive oil, salt & pepper to taste, and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (the original recipe says 40 minutes, but mine took much less time, fwiw).

2. Place the basil, walnuts, and garlic in a food processor, blitz it for a minute, then slowly add 6T extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube (shouldn't the feed tube be called something else?). Scrape out into a large bowl, salt & pepper to taste. As this pesto doesn't contain any cheese, I found it needed more salt that I would usually go for.

3. Cook 3/4 lb pasta (recipes always call for a full pound, but I really find using a little less works out well for me.)

3. Steam the beans until just done, but still relatively crisp.

4. Toss the beans with the pesto; add the potatoes and pasta, toss together.

I made this with locally grown potatoes (thank you, Walt) and our own homegrown beans and basil. Served with corn on the cob (again: thank you, Walt). Buy local! And grow your own!

Best. Pizza. Ever.

There's nothing film-related about this recipe, but I would be remiss if I didn't pass this on to any- and everyone I know. The basic recipe for Gouda and Red Salad Pizza is from the October 1991 issue of Gourmet, now helpfully archived at Epicurious. My only tweaks are substituting Vidalia onion for red and my own homemade crust for the Boboli, and baking at 475 o na pre-heated pizza stone. (The stone is really invaluable, essential in my view for a great homemade pizza.) I'll let the recipe stand as it is at the Epicurious link; my pizza dough recipe is below.



3/4 c warm water (90-100 degrees F)
1 t sugar
2 1/4 t active dry yeast
1 T olive oil

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
1 t salt
2 T cornmeal
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1 t dried oregano

1. Dissolve the sugar in the water; sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water. Add the oil and whisk with a fork. Let stand until the yeast has yielded a head that brings the volume up to one cup. Meanwhile...
2. Add the dry ingredients to a food processor; pulse a few times to combine.
3. When the yeast has activated, turn the processor on and add the water in a steady stream. Let the machine run until the dough forms into something resembling a ball.
4. Lightly coat a glass bowl big enough for the dough after it has doubled in size. Put the dough in, flipping in once to make sure it has a thin coating of the oil. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let the dough rise until nearly double in size. No peeking! (That's why you use a glass bowl.) This should take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.


This might sound odd, but sometimes when I make this pizza, I have leftover topping. I don't know how this happens, as the only produce item that really varies in size each time if the radicchio, and even that doesn't have a huge amount of variation. Anyway, any leftover red salad topping makes outstanding panini filling. I declared said sandwich the I'm Not There Sandwich, as the filling had once been something else, what once was the Best Pizza Ever became the Best Grilled Cheese ever not unlike the changing Dylan surrogates of the Todd Haynes film. (Perhaps fittingly, this was conjured up after getting home late from a screening of the film and discussion with the director.) Is that a stretch?


Don't answer that.