Fusilli with Feta & Lemon-Caper Pesto
The idea here is to make a tangy, lemony pasta sauce with feta and a few pantry staples. You can make it in the time it takes to cook the pasta. I use a large Japanese mortar and pestle for the sauce--it takes about 5 minutes of pounding--but a blender is even faster.
Ingredients
For the pasta
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Kosher salt
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1/2 pound dried fusilli pasta
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1 bunch fresh spinach (10 ounces), stems cut off, leaves washed well but not dried
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1/4 pound feta, crumbled (2/3 cup)
For the pesto
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1 small clove garlic; more or less to taste
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2 to 3 anchovy fillets (if you can get salt-packed anchovies, even better), rinsed and patted dry
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1 tablespoon capers (preferably salt-packed), soaked briefly and rinsed
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1-inch strip lemon zest, minced
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3/4 ounce feta, crumbled (2 tablespoons)
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1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
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2 or 3 fresh basil leaves (optional)
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1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
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1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add salt and the pasta. Cook until al dente. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta, and don't wash the pot.
2.
As the pasta cooks, wilt the spinach and make the pesto in a mortar or blender as follows:
3.
Put the wet spinach in a large skillet over medium heat. Add a dash of salt, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, keeping the lid on; the spinach will wilt and stay bright green.
4.
If using a blender, put in the garlic, anchovies, capers, lemon zest, the 2 tablespoons crumbled feta, the parsley, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and blend until the pesto is creamy. If using a mortar, add the pesto ingredients one at a time, pounding with a pestle until well mashed and blended before adding the next ingredient. Thin the pesto with the reserved pasta water to get the consistency of runny cream; you probably won't have to use the entire 1/2 cup water.
5.
Return the pasta to the pot in which it was cooked; add the spinach (drain any liquid left in the pan) and the pesto, stirring very well to coat the pasta. Stir in the 2/3 cup crumbled feta and serve.
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