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Grilled Rapini With Pine Nut Pistou
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Top recipe: 
2008 GOLDEN WHISK AWARDS
(Our top 10 recipes of the year)
The In Season column helps you use the freshest produce in the most delicious ways. Woodfire Grill executive chef Kevin Gillespie, a lover of greens, was kind enough to share this recipe. “It makes a nice dish into a meal, “ he said. “You can roast a chicken and make this, and it will come across really elegantly but it’s really easy to make.” Inexpensive vinegar works fine here.
As for the pistou, you could just as easily call this condiment a parsley pesto, as it falls somewhere between a French pistou -- traditionally made with basil, garlic and olive oil -- and an Italian pesto, which adds pine nuts and a hard cheese to the mix. The quantities of oil and lemon juice are not exact because, Gillespie says, that is a matter of personal taste.
-- Deborah Geering, for the Journal-Constitution
Hands on time: 15 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Serves: 4
Ingredients:
-
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 bunches rapini, cut into 4-inch pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons (or more) Pine Nut Pistou, recipe follows
For Pine Nut Pistou:
Makes 1 cup
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
1 cup pine nuts
1 garlic clove
1 shallot, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
For the rapini:
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the vinegar and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced to the consistency of a thin syrup. Remove from heat to cool. (If it gets too thick to pour, thin it with a little additional vinegar.)
Preheat the grill to medium high. Toss the rapini with the olive oil to coat. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the rapini on a perforated grill pan, turning and moving constantly, until tender and slightly browned. (Don't worry if a few leaves get charred.) Transfer to a serving platter. Spoon the pistou over the rapini and drizzle all with the balsamic reduction.
For the pistou:
In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the pine nuts for about 5 minutes, or until golden, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a food processor, chop the garlic until it resembles a paste. Add the pine nuts and chop very finely. Add the shallot and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest (reserve the lemon). Add the parsley leaves and pulse until just chopped. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the pistou will fall from a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, squeeze in enough lemon juice to brighten the taste, 1 to 2 tablespoons.
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the vinegar and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced to the consistency of a thin syrup. Remove from heat to cool. (If it gets too thick to pour, thin it with a little additional vinegar.)
Preheat the grill to medium high. Toss the rapini with the olive oil to coat. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the rapini on a perforated grill pan, turning and moving constantly, until tender and slightly browned. (Don't worry if a few leaves get charred.) Transfer to a serving platter. Spoon the pistou over the rapini and drizzle all with the balsamic reduction.
For the pistou:
In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the pine nuts for about 5 minutes, or until golden, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a food processor, chop the garlic until it resembles a paste. Add the pine nuts and chop very finely. Add the shallot and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest (reserve the lemon). Add the parsley leaves and pulse until just chopped. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the pistou will fall from a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, squeeze in enough lemon juice to brighten the taste, 1 to 2 tablespoons.
Nutrition:
Per serving: 71 calories (percent of calories from fat, 61), 1 gram protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 36 milligrams sodium.
Pine Nut Pistou, per tablespoon: 66 calories (percent of calories from fat, 82), 1 gram protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 13 milligrams sodium.
Pine Nut Pistou, per tablespoon: 66 calories (percent of calories from fat, 82), 1 gram protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 13 milligrams sodium.
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