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EARLY SUMMER PESTOS
Do you think of pesto as a delicious basil paste (with other ingredients)
generally tossed with cooked pasta? I urge you to expand your thinking!
Not only are you limiting your choice of ingredients, but also your
options for applying the pesto(s) in so many other ways! Start pesto-ing
today for quick and easy summer satiation!
ASIAN PESTO
A few years ago, when I was able to buy large volumes of cilantro
at ridiculously low prices, and had to find ways to use it, I came
up with this flavorful recipe. With minimal fat from the nuts (good
for you!) in the initial version, it’s also very healthy (and
the minimal fat in two of the variations is unsaturated).
- 2 c cilantro leaves, firmly packed (about 2 small bunches, or
¼ lb)
- ¼ c cashews, peanuts, almonds or macadamia nuts, preferably
toasted
- 5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (about 2 T)
- 2 large jalapenos, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 2 oz,
or 2-4 T; if using another fresh chile that is hotter, such as
Serrano or Thai Bird, use less, depending on your love of capsaicin)
- 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into very thin rounds
(about 2 T)
- 2 T lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 2 T soy sauce
- up to 1 t sugar
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a blender; blend until smooth,
stopping the blender often and using a spoon to force the leaves into
the blender blades. To facilitate blending, it may be necessary to
add up to 2 T cold water. This pesto freezes well for a year. This
recipe will yield about 12 servings. Variation
I: substitute fish sauce for the lime juice, or just add
fish sauce for a more fluid sauce.
Variation II: add ¼ c tahini
(sesame paste).
Variation III: add 2 T toasted sesame
oil.
Adaptations:
As a sauce for pasta or rice: Use about 1 T of pesto per serving
of pasta or noodles (1/4 lb pasta/noodles prior to cooking) or cup
of cooked rice.
As a sauce for meat/poultry/seafood: Pan-sear/fry your favorite
meat/poultry/seafood. Place on a plate, drape with the pesto and
served with a nice steamed veggie.
Alternatively, you can prepare your meat/poultry/seafood to just
under its desired doneness; remove from the pan and cut into bit
sized pieces; deglaze the pan with 1 T pesto and 1 T water per serving;
when pan is deglazed, add the meat/poultry/seafood back to the pan
with the pesto and all the sauce to form a glaze over the meat/poultry/seafood.
Still alternatively, these pestos work great over broiled, grilled,
boiled, poached or braised meats/poultry/seafood. You can also use
the loosened pesto as a pool or bed for whatever you might want
to place on top of it.
As a sauce for vegetables: Sauté, steam, boil, grill or roast
your favorite veggies, and sauce them with this pesto as a main
course or a side dish or an appetizer.
SOUTH OF THE BORDER PESTO
Many Asian and Latin cultures share a love of cilantro, so I experimented
with the Asian Pesto recipe to create this simpler, but equally
healthy New World version:
- 2 c cilantro leaves, firmly packed (about 2 small bunches, or
¼ lb)
- ¼ c cashews or almonds, toasted
- 5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (about 2 T)
- 2 large jalapenos, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 2 oz,
or 2 to 4 T; if using another fresh chile that is hotter, such
as Serrano or Thai Bird, use less, depending on your love of capsaicin)
- 2 T lime juice (about 1 lime)
- ½ t salt
- up to 1 t sugar
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a blender; blend until smooth,
stopping the blender often and using a spoon to force the leaves
into the blender blades. To facilitate blending, it may be necessary
to add up to ¼ c cold water.
Use about 1 T of pesto per serving of pasta or noodles (1/4 lb pasta/noodles
prior to cooking) or with 1 c cooked rice. This recipe will yield
about 12 servings. This pesto freezes well for a year.
Applications: This pesto can be used
as a replacement for the Asian Pesto in any of the applications listed
above. PESTO BUTTER
Instead of serving regular butter to go with bread during a meal,
make a batch of pesto butter. It’s easy, flavorful and sure
to be a hit. Usually, I don’t go for “compound butters”
as ingredients for recipes, because it is usually just as easy to
add the ingredients individually without blending them. However,
when the compound butter is the star, I say, “Go for it!”
- 4 T butter, softened
- 1 T pesto (any variety)
Using a fork, mash the butter and pesto together in a dish. When
fully mixed, transfer the compound butter to a serving dish and
refrigerate. Leftovers can be refrigerated for later use, transferred
to and wrapped in a sheet of plastic wrap for freezing for a couple
of months, or tossed with some hot, freshly cooked pasta for a quick
meal. Additionally, some individuals like to use pesto butter on
seared/grilled steaks, chops or roasts, but since I rarely eat big
hunks of meat, I’m not inclined toward this application. I
have been known to put some of this pesto butter on a nice pan-seared
salmon (or other fish) fillet, or to use the compound butter to
deglaze the pan to make a nice complex sauce for the fish or other
seafood (like pan-seared scallops!). Try serving this butter with
excellent bread at a party; your guests will be quite surprised
(and impressed)!
I had planned to offer a newly-created recipe for Arugula Pesto,
but I don’t want to overwhelm you with options (and you do
have hundreds of options, variations and applications above). Let
me know if you need any more options by calling 773.508.9208 or
emailing me at bret@god-dess.com.
Thanks, and Happy Pesto-ing!
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