Pesto Change-o…..
One of the simple joys of summer for me is the easy access to fresh herbs. They are the one ingredient that can change the direction of a dish, the flavour profile of a cocktail or even liven up a cup of tea. I love fresh herbs, summer or winter, in my opinion they are an indispensable ingredient.
This time of year finding beautiful fresh herbs is not a chore…most of us likely just have to walk out our back door or patio window. You can make the season last a whole lot longer by preserving your fresh herbs in the form of a pesto or paste.
The classic Italian Genovese pesto is made with fresh basil, parsley, garlic, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and good quality olive oil – blended together to form a paste. While the classic is incredibly delicious and remains close to my heart as a staple in my freezer I do love to mix things up a little. Now the Italians might not approve of my combinations but I like to take a little liberty!
Traditionally a mortar and pestle is employed for the job of blending the ingredients and please, have it if you are only making a small batch but if you are going for full pesto glory you are going to need to plug in! The best tool for the job is the food processor – good heavy duty one will make light work of it. First up – Mint Pesto: bunches of fresh mint, but not peppermint – that would just be toothpaste like and weird. Blend that with lemon zest, salt & black pepper, toasted almonds and olive oil. In this one, I would forgo the cheese and serve it over grilled fish, steamed fresh new potatoes or grilled zucchini.
Next is Cilantro Pesto, this will be the perfect addition to your Mexican food this winter. Bunches of fresh cilantro and flat leaf parsley blended with raw garlic, salt & black pepper, toasted pumpkin seeds & olive oil. Turn your cilantro pesto into a quick cream sauce and serve it with roasted chicken and capellini pasta.
Mixed herb pesto is perfect stirred into a tomato sauce, a salad dressing, homemade soup or stew as you see fit…rosemary, tarragon, parsley, mint, basil and a bunch of baby spinach blended with lemon zest, salt & pepper, toasted cashews, almonds or walnuts, parmesan cheese and your best quality olive oil. Try mixing your pesto into soft butter and spreading it on fresh bread, throw a small scoop into your sour cream to dress up a baked potato, melt it into the butter for your popcorn, scoop some onto grilled chicken or steak and let it melt into the meat as it rests or use it as it was traditionally intended a pasta sauce.
Pesto can be frozen into ice cube trays and then transferred as cubes into Ziploc bags or freeze it in all those yogurt containers you’ve been saving. Fill them up and stack ‘em in the deep freeze. Make sure you mark the bag so you know what you’ve got when you go to use it.
Happy Blending !
