My first attempt at a Samin Nosrat "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" authored recipe was a flavor explosion. Deep flavors and a distinct, thick texture transformed standard sauce or pasta accompaniment into the main feature.
This salty, earthy (from the lightly broken down basil) pesto felt almost like a dip that I would spread on toast or vegetables because adding it to pasta actually seemed to overwhelm the noodles. The contrast in textures – a coarse, nut-based sauce with smooth pasta also led to a slightly weird mouth feel, so I don't think I would make this again for pasta (I tried this pesto on both spaghettini and cheese tortellini).
My aversion to this pesto-on-pasta recipe also may come from my tradition of making nut-free pesto to accommodate my pine nut and walnut allergies, so I am just not used to nut-based pestos as a rule.
The sauce was though quite easy to prepare. Although I have a mortar and pestle, I decided to use my food processor instead. I substituted toasted sliced almonds instead of pine nuts due to my most-nut allergies, and exclusively used parmigiano-reggiano instead of adding in a bit of pecorino as well. It took just a few minutes to prepare the pesto, taste it to adjust flavors, and season to my preference.
So while I don't think this will be a recipe repeat, unless I made this as a party dip, I am glad to have finally experimented with Samin Nosrat's acclaimed cookbook!
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