Basil Pesto!! And a bunch of ways to use it :)

Got a ton of basil?  Me too.  So let's make some pesto and then use it in some fun dishes.

Pesto on whole grain pasta with fresh tomatoes
Pesto on multi-grain vege pizza
Pesto and white bean salad
Pesto as a topper for tomato bisque
Pesto on a portabello mushroom cap sandwich










If you don't have a garden full of basil don't worry, check out your local farmer's market or grocery store, it should be abundant and dirt cheap this time of year.

To make this green beauty all you need is a few simple ingredients, a food processor, and about 4 minutes.  Stop rolling your eyes when I say food processor; just because there is a food processor (or blender works fine too) involved it doesn't mean that a recipe is going to be difficult.



Here  is what you need:

2 cups of packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
2 tablespoons of walnuts
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt to taste


Sometimes I toast up the nuts in a dry frying pan, sometimes I don't.  If you want to toast them, just put them in a frying pan without any oil over medium/high heat and toss them around until you can start to smell them...3ish minutes maybe.





Dump everything into the food processors and let 'er rip until, well, it looks like pesto.  Salt to taste.  DONE!

FYI I use walnuts in this recipe because they add that fatty quality that you are used to in pesto that usually comes from cheese.

If you want to make a ton of pesto go ahead, it freezes well!  Just pour it into an airtight container, cover it with a thin layer of olive oil (keeps it from turning black when frozen) and then pop on the cover to the container and freeze it.


Now that you have pesto, what are you going to do with it?  Check out these dishes for a few ideas.

Try pesto on a pizza, as a spread on a sandwich, as a topper on tomato bisque, with pasta, or in a bean salad

Vegetable Pizza with Pesto:

You will need:

Pizza dough (multigrain, whole wheat, whatever)

tomato sauce

plant-based toppings of your choice

a tablespoon or 2 of pesto

*you can make pizza dough if you want or check out your grocery store to see what they have.  This one came from the grocery store.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees,  place your dough on a non-stick cookie sheet or pizza stone if you have one, then put on all of you toppings and pesto however you like.

Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes and enjoy.

PIZZA!

Portabello Mushroom Cap Sandwich with Pesto

You will need (per sandwich):

whole grain ciabatta bread or other crust bread

1-2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 tomato slice

a few red onion slices

1 large portabello mushroom cap

1 tablespoon of pesto

salad greens of your choice

Remove the gills and stem from your mushroom cap and then dry fry them in a pan until both sides are browned and they are cooked through.


Then spread some olive oil on the halves of your bread and toast them up in the pan too (not pictured)













To construct your sandwich, first spread the pesto on the toasted bread, then layer on the mushroom, tomato slice, red onion, and salad greens, then top with the other piece of bread.

YUM! I'm not going to lie, I even impressed myself with how good this one was.

Tomato Bisque

You will need:
4 lbs of tomatoes, any kind will work
1 zucchini or summer squash
1 shallot (or 1/2 of an onion)
4-5 cloves of garlic
some fresh herbs - I used:
  1 tablespoon of rosemary
  1 tablespoon of oregano
  1 handful of basil
  1 handful of parsley
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
some vege broth to thin the soup if desired
1/2 tablespoon of pesto for serving







Chop all of the veges and herbs up roughly.  It is ok if things are different sizes.  Toss the veges and herbs and in a bowl with the olive oil.  Then spread everything out on to 2-3 baking sheets and sprinkle on the sugar and salt.  Put the veges and herbs into a 350 degree oven for about an hour until everything is cooked through and some bits are browning.  Then dump all your roasted veges and herbs into a blender and blend until everything is nice and smooth.  Add some vege stock if you want to thin your soup to a consistency that you like. Personally I like this bisque super thick.  Top with pesto.

There is nothing like a warm bowl of tomato bisque

White Bean and Pesto Salad

This is a super quick one.

You will need:
2.5 cups of white beans
1 roasted red pepper (roasted yourself or from a jar is fine)
1/2 shallot or some red onion
2 tablespoons of pesto

Chop the roasted red pepper into bite sized pieces and mince the shallot.  Mix everything into a bowl and toss until everything is covered with the pesto.

Serve as a salad topper, as a small plate, and it even tastes good on the tomato bisque above.

Pasta with Pesto

Do you really need help with this one?  Make some pasta and then mix in some pesto and top with fresh tomatoes.  

I hope you found a few things that you like.  Have fun with your pesto, feel free to share your creations in the comments on the blog or on Dr. G's facebook page.  

Happy eating and best health!

Dr. G