Greening Up The Plate For Summer
Summers are always synonym with….sandy toes, ( for us here in SoCal) and canning!
It is only natural to want to preserve the bounties of your yards or gardens to bring a little touch of sunshine to your winter dishes.
During this pandemic I am pretty sure we all have pantries full of strawberry jams, hot pepper jams,….but in my case I also can’t do without pesto.
I try to make a couple of jars every week as I prune my basil plants, one jar I freeze and one I keep in the refrigerator for up to 15 days by storing it in a mason jar and covering the top with olive oil.
First off I know there are a lot of different version of “pesto”…but no sorry, Pesto Alla Genovese simply is what it is. Basil, Parmigiano Reggiano, Garlic, Pine Nuts and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Spinach cannot be substituted for Basil in pesto, unless you are making a spinach sauce. Walnuts are not pine nuts and while you may like them they do not taste anything like pine nuts, so they will not work in traditional pesto.
Beside the point that Pesto is so delicious and easy to make I am not sure why you would want to alter it at all.
INGREDIENTS: ( For two 1/2 Pint Jars, You may cut the recipe in a half)
4 cups of very packed fresh basil leaves
4 oz pine nuts ( you can toast them I prefer them not toasted as they keep a fresher taste)
4.5 oz or Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese ( cut into small pieces)
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
( 1/4 tsp black pepper Optionsl)
DIRECTIONS:
Wash and dry the basil leaves.
Combine the basil, pine nuts, salt and pepper and Parmiggiano Reggiano into a food processor and pulse.
Turn your setting to “ Blend” and add in the olive oil. Continue to blend until well mixed to a smooth and uniform texture. You occasionally might want to stop the process and scrape the leaves off the sides of the food processor bowl.
Divide into two jars, top the content of the jar you are keeping in the refrigerator and top it with olive oil, Seal and freeze the other jar.
In order to use your pesto over pasta, simply cook the pasta according to the package directions, add a couple of tablespoons of the pesto to your plant,. When the pasta is ready to be drained, reserbve a littole bit of the cooking water, add your hot pasta over the cold pesto placed in the plate alongside the 2 tbsp of reserved water and mix well. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano cheese if desired.
This is one of my go to ultimate comfort dish of the summer.
Pesto is also a very versatile dressing/ sauce.
I love it in grilled vegetable summer wraps, simply spread over a nice and toasty french baguette, in my baked potatoes, mixed with butter over grilled corn on the cob and over fried tofu sandwiches :o)
What are some of your favorite uses of pesto?
