• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs green peppercorns – drained of brine
• 1 cup pitted picholine olives
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

First, blend up the nuts, garlic and peppercorns into a paste.  Add the olives and process until smooth.  While the machine is running, add the oil, lemon juice and then parmesan and blend until its smooth.  That’s it!  If you want to add some chicken, slice it up and season with salt and pepper and cook in a pan until it turns white.  Add it in with the pesto.

the mixture

Cook your pasta and drain, reserving a tiny bit of the water you cooked it in.  Add some of the pesto to the pot and toss the pasta until its covered.  Hope you like it!

some chicken on the skillet

pasta with pistachio pesto

making the vongole sauce

To make the sauce you will need the following ingredients:

• 1/2 pound mussels
• 1/2 pound little neck clams – preferably as small as they have
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• about 10 cherry tomatoes or 2 larger tomatoes, diced
• a handful of italian parsley
• a handful or basil, chopped
• a cup of dry white wine
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper
• hot pepper flakes (like the kind you put on pizza)
• 4 shallots, diced

Soak the mussels and clams in salt water for 10 minutes and rub them together to get the dirt and gunk off.  Heat the oil and saute the shallots.  Drop spaghetti into salted, boiling water.  Add the garlic and tomatoes to the oil and crush them with the back of a wooden spoon, let cook on medium high heat for about 6 minutes while stirring occasionally.  Add the parsley, basil and mussels and clams and cover and continue cooking on medium high heat until they all open.  Remove from heat.  When spaghetti is ready (about 7-10 minutes) drain water and add sauce and toss together.  Garnish with a little parsley.