Pesto Recipes

Pesto Recipe

2 cups fresh celantro or mint,  basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.
Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months. i freeze mine in ice cube trays then put in freezer bags when frozen.

 

Dried Tomato Pesto

1 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil
½ cup chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cloves minced garlic
3 green onions sliced
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 teaspoon slivered lemon basil leaves

Place sun-dried tomatoes, chicken stock, oil, cheese and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until completely smooth.
Pour over enough fresh, hot pasta for 4 servings- linguine is nice for this.
Sprinkle with the green onions and pine nuts.
Garnish with the lemon basil.
Yield: 4 servings

Celantro pesto

2 cups, packed, of cilantro, large stems removed
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped and seeded serrano chile
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, almonds, onion, chile, and salt until well blended. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.

Add more oil as needed for your use.

Makes about 1 cup.