Serves 4
I came up with the idea of tossing beans in celery leaf pesto one summer, when I was co-hosting a party in Umbria with Nancy Silverton for the filming of the PBS show I’ll Have What Phil’s Having. I began to look through cookbooks at Nancy’s house, where I was staying, to get ideas. Nancy wanted everything to be served at room temperature, so that all the cooking could be done early and there would be nothing to do when the guests and film crew arrived except ask, “Red or white?” My method for finding inspiration was to sit on the front porch overlooking the medieval town and the olive groves below, and flip through a huge stack of cookbooks to see what stuck in my head the next day. Only one thing did, and that was a version of this salad with beans tossed in celery leaf pesto. I went a little crazy and added mozzarella and farro.
¾ cup farro, cooked and cooled to room temperature (see here; about 2 cups cooked farro)
1½ cups Italian-Style Beans (here) or 1 (15-ounce) canned borlotti beans, chickpeas, or white beans, drained
Celery Leaf Pesto (recipe follows)
4 to 6 celery stalks, thinly sliced into half-moons (the innermost, lightest green stalks of celery are the most tender and tastiest)
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces bocconcini (or another fresh mozzarella cut into bite-size pieces)
Put farro and beans in a large bowl. Add three-fourths of the pesto, the celery, vinegar, oil, and salt and toss gently to mix all the ingredients together and coat the farro and beans with the pesto. Add more pesto if desired. Add the mozzarella and toss gently to combine the ingredients, being careful not to smash the mozzarella.
Makes about 2 cups
This pesto is made with the leaves from one bunch of celery, and parsley. If you’re short celery leaves, make up for it in parsley.
1 cup packed fresh celery leaves (all the leaves from 1 bunch; discard the really tough dark green outer leaves)
1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted (see here)
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Put all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until the pesto is smooth with some flecks, stopping once or twice to scrape down the side of the blender. The pesto should be loose and spoonable, not globby; if it’s too thick, add more oil and blend it in. Stir in the lemon juice just before serving. Refrigerate leftover pesto in a covered container for up to 2 days; it will lose its pretty color with time but it will still taste great. Bring it to room temperature before using.