Here is what
you don’t know about Henry – up until recently, he had set foot into
49 of our 50 states. So when
conversation commenced last spring about where we should travel in the fall, he
voted for Hawaii, the last state on his bucket list. I was
lukewarm about the idea, but hey, when it comes to travel, I’m game for just
about anything.
Since
neither one of us had a clue about the place, we turned to “Travel Agent Extraordinaire”,
Doreen Lewis. With her assistance, we
ended up on three islands, experienced everything from volcanoes to lava walks
to Jurassic Park (not kidding) to
beautiful beaches, luxurious hotels (well,
except for the cottage in Volcano Village which was kind of like camping),
amazing food and memorable sunsets. We
ate a lot of ahi, fresh from the sea (tuna poke is now on my list of what I
want on the menu for my last meal) and became addicted to papaya with fresh
lime. And while we dined well, it’s
probably the first vacation where I didn’t gain any weight. Oh yeah, I would definitely go back!
But alas,
reality intrudes and you find yourself hopscotching back to the mainland on a not-so-wonderful plane because you have departed from a small island where
they can’t bring in jumbo jets. You
spend 5 hours on that crappy plane, change to a slightly bigger one in LA and
arrive home jet-lagged and exhausted. In
a perfect world, you would take a few days to recover, but that is only if you
don’t have a son who is opening a craft brewery here in Atlanta. Yes, you heard me correctly.
More to come
about this later, but for now, I will just tell you that my eldest son Andy has
embarked upon this venture and it is really, really exciting. They are opening this spring on the
Atlanta Beltline and marketing efforts are well underway. That includes craft beer tastings at Andy’s
home. Enter Mom.
We arrived
home from Hawaii on a Tuesday evening and a tasting was scheduled for
Thursday. Natch, it was my job to
provide the food. I decided to keep it
simple, largely because I was still jet-lagged and barely functional. I remembered that big batch of pesto I made
from the last of my summer basil and pulled it out of the freezer. Savory cheesecake was in order. That and a bunch of truffled popcorn. Done and done. Can Mom go back to bed now?
PESTO CHEESECAKE
For the
crust:
1 cup panko
(Japanese breadcrumbs)
2
tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup grated
Parmesan (I used Reggiano)
For the
cheesecake:
24 oz. cream
cheese ( 3 8-oz. packages), softened
2 cups
ricotta cheese (you can use reduced fat, but why bother?)
2 teaspoons
salt
1 teaspoon
cayenne pepper (you can use more or less to taste)
4 eggs (I
used extra-large)
2 cups pesto
(can be purchased if you don’t have your own on hand)
1 cup pine
nuts, lightly toasted
Maldon or
coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Preheat oven
to 350-degrees. Grease a 9-inch
springform pan.
To make the
crust, combine panko, melted butter and Parmesan. Press into the bottom of the prepared
springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes,
until just set. Remove from oven to cool
slightly and reduce heat to 325-degrees.
In an
electric mixture, beat cream cheese until smooth and no lumps remain. Add ricotta, salt and cayenne and mix just
until well-blended. Add eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each addition.
Divide
batter in half. Stir the pesto into one
half and leave the other half plain.
Pour the
pesto batter into the prepared pan.
Scatter the pine nuts over the top, the cover with the remaining (plain)
batter. Sprinkle the top with Maldon or
coarse sea salt.
Bake for 45
minutes, or until cheesecake is just set but still slightly wobbly in the
center. Remove to a rack and cool
completely, then wrap in plastic and chill overnight.
When ready
to serve, run a knife around edges of pan and remove springform. Place cheesecake on a serving platter and garnish with
fresh basil leaves, if desired. Serve in very thin wedges.
Serves 20
Cheers and Happy Holidays y'all!
Posts
