Sometimes it's very hard for me emotionally to accept things I know intellectually to be true...
Case in point: herbs are happiest when cut pretty constantly.
But when I see a full, healthy, happy sage plant, I really don't want to decimate it, even though I know it'll be twice as full, healthy, and happy within days if I do. This is all a prelude to tonight's dinner...
Fresh pasta with sage pesto. Yes. Really. Sage pesto.
This past January, I mentioned the sage pesto I learned about from the Zuni Café, home to the extraordinary Judy Rogers...
(http://www.thisoldchef.com/blog.html/in_praise_of_judy_rodgers/)
Her death left us all poorer... But try this riff on the Zuni sage pesto... You'll be glad you did.
I put about 30 big sage leaves in a tiny saucepan and poured in EVOO until it was soaked but not quite swimming and turned the heat as low as possible. After a few minutes, the oil began to bubble. I turned it off. Once it was cooler, I turned it back on... When it bubbled a second time, I turned it off and let it cool. In a mortar and pestle, I pounded 4 garlic cloves with a pinch of coarse salt, then added all of the sage... with as little oil as I could manage... and pounded the hell out of it.
When it looked vaguely pesto-y, I added a big handful of walnuts and pounded away again. I then added the sage-y oil back in, along with a few gratings of nutmeg.
This was then tossed with pasta, pasta water, and Parmesan.
Don't. Panic. Everyone says SAGE IS TOO STRONG... DONT USE MUCH!
Pardon me, but B.S. If you like sage you'll looooooove this.