Pesto Alla Genovese

Pesto alla Genovese

2 cups fresh basil leaves, stripped from their stems, coarsely chopped and tightly packed. 

1 t. salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

1-2 t. finely chopped garlic

2 T. finely chopped pine nuts (or walnuts)

1 to 1 1/2 cups olive oil

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a blender or food processer, combine basil, salt, pepper, garlic, nuts and 1 cup of olive oil.  Blend at high speed until the ingredients are smooth, stopping every 5 or 6 second to push herbs down with a rubber spatula.

The sauce should be thin enough to run off the spatula easily.  If too thick, blend in as much as ½ cup more olive oil.

Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese.

Poach chicken breasts, cool and cut into bit size pieces.  Add a few spoons of pesto and mix well.  Serve on lettuce or as part of an antipasto. 

You can also mix the chicken and pesto with cooled pasta and fresh tomatoes for a delicious main course.  Serve with French bread.

The Garden Brings Forth Food

Yes!  Finally ripe tomatoes, cukes, loads of herbs.  I made pesto Genovese today.  Last night I poached a large chicken breast.   Used part of the pesto to toss with bite-sized pieces of chicken, and cooked a pound of pasta, small-ziti type, and chopped up 3 ripe tomatoes.  After draining and cooling the pasta, I added the chicken with pesto and the tomatoes.  This is a yummy cheap (this time of  year) meal.  Chicken breasts are always on sale, and the basil was from the garden.  I grated an ancient piece of Romano cheese on my microplane.  Used walnuts instead of pine nuts.    Great taste.  The pesto makes the chicken so flavorful.  We also had a green salad with romaine, cukes and avocado, all on sale.  Photo tomorrow.   This would serve six.  

Tomorrow I'm making a sponge cake that is then cut into pieces, frosted and rolled in chopped peanuts.  This is an ancient recipe that a  friend told me about eating years and years ago.  I found the recipe.  Apparently my mom made it.    Trying it out on the family.  

The critters were eating the tomatoes, and I put out some moth balls in little cat food containers among the tomato plants.  Suspect the cheeky chipmunks.  Lots of birds lately.  Hard to keep the feeders full. 

Do try the pesto.  I used a recipe very similar to Emerill's.  I've been harvesting dill, oregano, and rosemary, along with basil, mint and sage.  Parsley, too.  Garden is jungley from all the rain.  

Onward