Anytime I have basil on hand, I whip up a quick batch of pesto. It's so simple and keeps in the fridge for a few days. Tossed with pasta, it's a perfect weeknight meal — a healthy, sweet, and delicious variation of the typical family pasta your kids may eat. This simple pesto pasta recipe (grilled chicken totally optional but completely delicious) will have you serving up fun "green sauce" pasta in just five steps.
While this may seem like a complicated recipe, it's deceivingly simple. The lamb chops practically cook themselves in the broiler, and the pesto forms like presto after a whirl in the food processor.
The bright green star of the show is pesto made with mint, pistachios, and Pecorino Romano, rather than the typical trinity of basil, pine nuts, and Parmesan. Keep the mint-pistachio pesto slightly chunky so you can top it over the lamb chops like salsa.
While appetizer appropriate, lamb chops are a fairly expensive item that you may want to reserve for a special occasion dinner. To keep with the Mediterranean theme, serve these lamb chops over a bed of couscous or orzo.
Until my late teens, I incorrectly assumed that classic pesto got its backbone from walnuts. This notion came from years spent as a small child helping my step-grandmother, Grenelle, blitz up batch after batch. Every Summer she'd harvest her backyard basil crop, and we'd spend afternoons tucking away containers of walnut-studded pesto in her basement freezer to enjoy year-round. Most (if not all) was enjoyed simply — with a platter of saltine crackers, ham, and cheese — though throughout my youth, I shunned pesto for its pungent odor and suspect color.
Years later, after I realized the error of my ways, I dived into a passionate love affair with all things pesto. I called Grenelle for her recipe, remembering the pesto's legion of household fans. I scribbled down the recipe on scrap paper, where it lived for many years, splattered with olive oil. Then one day, while flipping through a tattered copy of the Silver Palate Cookbook, I learned her secret.
She may not have invented this recipe, but today I still consider it Grenelle's pesto. Though pine nuts star in the classic Genovese version, to this day I prefer pesto made with walnuts, as the delicate flavor of pine nuts can get lost amongst the assertiveness of parmesan and raw garlic. Chances are, this version will make you a walnut pesto convert.
Pesto is a fun way to sneak veggies into a child's diet without them ever suspecting that what they're eating is healthy. For this flavorful pesto, we use broccoli as the base and leave out the pine nuts to make it safe for kids with allergies. One cup of broccoli contains the recommended daily amount of vitamin C boosting the body's immune system and helping to fight off the common cold, and is also packed with potassium, which benefits the development of your growing tot's nervous system. With a pop of fresh basil and lots of Parmesan cheese, this dish has a mild flavor that won't have kids turning up their noses.
When the cooler weather sets in, festive Fall foods are on the brain. This twist on traditional Italian pesto plays up the nutty flavor of toasted pumpkin seeds and combines it with an unexpected herb: cilantro!
This pesto would be a great sandwich topper for someone trying to steer clear of processed condiments, or it would be fantastic on a simple piece of flaky, roasted fish. The original recipe called for 2/3 cup of oil, but I found the first batch far too heavy. To lighten things up, I went for 1/3 cup of oil, and the texture and consistency were perfect. Want to get creative with your pepitas? Keep reading for the tasty recipe!
Everyone's enjoyed a pesto made with basil, but there's no reason to limit your knowledge of the condiment: you actually can make it with a variety of greens like spinach, arugula, and mint or other herbs such as cilantro or parsley. One of my favorites is spinach pesto; it works great on pasta, pizza, and as a spread for sandwiches.
The ingredients are simple: spinach, roasted pine nuts (although other nuts will work), and a little bit of grated Parmesan. The key here, though, is a really great olive oil; I use Sciabica's Mission Spring Harvest for its light, slightly buttery flavor. First, add all of the solid ingredients to a food processor on low, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
Keep your pesto in the fridge and use it over the next couple weeks in a wide range of delicious pesto recipes (if you won't be using all of the pesto, just place it in a jar and cover the top in olive oil to avoid oxidation). Still worried you won't use it all? Freeze it in an ice-cube tray for even smaller easy-to-use servings. Don't just limit your pesto to basil and keep reading for this incredibly easy recipe.
If you're in search of a quick flavor fix, turn to pestos as they're full of bold, concentrated flavors. Pesto alla Genovese — basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil — is typically the first ingredient combination that comes to mind, but really, the ground nut-and-herb mixture just brings endless color to all manner of dishes. Here are a smattering of recipes loaded with all kinds of pesto.
How does your garden grow? Now that the weather in California's started to warm, all of the vegetables in mine have finally started to grow! Nothing's quite large enough to pick yet, except for a few nasturtium plants, which are growing like weeds.
When life gives you nasturtium leaves, make nasturtium pesto! I used the traditional ingredients in a basil pesto, but substituted the basil with a big bowl of hand-picked nasturtiums.
See what I topped with this condiment, then make your own version of this fresh pesto.
Looking for a quick way to jazz up any weeknight pasta dish? FitSugar reader thefitnessgourmet posted this recipe for a light spinach pesto in our Healthy Recipe group in the FitSugar community.
This healthy spinach pesto tastes so unhealthy, you'll seriously doubt the nutrition in it!
During the Summer, I love to use the bounty of in-season basil to make fresh pesto. The combination of basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil is always delicious. If you don't have time to blitz your own pesto but want to cook with the sauce, simply pick up some from the local market. Although pesto is wonderful tossed with al dente pasta, there are plenty of other ways to make use of the Italian condiment. To see my suggestions, read on.
