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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Basil Pesto

Pesto... what an amazing little concoction.  There is a pizza place that's close to our house that we like to go to on occasion that has the most delicious pesto pizza I have ever had. We usually order it with bacon...mmmmmmm....what a great flavor combination.  Anyway, pesto is a pretty versatile sauce.  You can use it on pasta, pizza, potatoes, dips, you can even spread it on slices of toasted baguettes.  I actually used it to top baked tilapia, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I'll hold of on that recipe for another time....plus that gives me another reason to make pesto again...YAY!!!

Basil Pesto
- makes 1 cup -
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts 
2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.

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Before you go....check out Aggie's Kitchen blog.  She had a chili contest where I was a runner up :)  I know, I didn't win, but hey, my picture and name got on her site, so I FEEL like a winner, that's gotta count for something, right??!!  Check the site out, there are some really yummy chili recipes!  Thanks Aggie for hosting the contest!

1 comment:

Stephen C said...

Good morning. We adore pestos. Peter makes them from basil, sage, cilantro and parsley. I'll bet parsley pesto would match up with tilapia.

I have a lamb idea for you if the opportunity presents itself. Since you grill all the time, if you can get your hands on a leg slice of lamb, marinate it in the way you're so good at, and grill it to the doneness you both like (divide it in half if necessary), you might just get it by Chris. I don't see these slices in our stores very often - they're like the ham slices you see all the time, one round leg bone in the middle. Anyhow, just a thought.