Almond Basil Pesto.

Basil season ends at the end of the summer so harvest (from your garden or your neighbors.. shh) and make some pesto! This pesto is so tasty I want to rub it all over everything. Jars of this tasty delight make perfecto Christmas prezzies. If you make them now and freeze in jars they will still be delicious at the holiday season....

Pesto can be made in varying ways (diff nuts, cheeses, etc). Using almonds makes the pesto that much richer and creamier. Almonds are my preference but you can also experiment with walnuts and pine nuts. If you want your pesto to have a lighter/fresher feel, you can also substitute some of the fresh basil for fresh parsley. Some love it/some hate it. You can use this recipe for pasta (obvi), on grilled chicken, on crostini with ricotta, etc... or on you can eat it straight out the jar. bliss.



INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups packed fresh basil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 cup almonds
• 2 and 1/2 cups olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 cups grated pecorino (romano or parmesan is fine)
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• Put garlic, cheese, and nuts into a food processor. Pulse until sand-like texture.
• Add Basil. pulse again.
• Pour oil in batches. add a little. pulse (and so on)
• Add salt to taste
• Use on your pasta (you can dilute it with a little water that you cook your pasta in) or put in a jar and put in fridge/freezer for later.
  

Tarts are your friend

Shannon (best friend/partner in crime) has recently returned to the wonderful world of vegetarianism. I promised her brunch on Saturday and was forced to forego my normal weekend serving of bacon in favor of veggie goodness. When planning the menu, I thought I would make something easy that can serve as lunch, brunch, or dinner for those struggling with little time and excess groceries. My friend, Erin, mentioned that when shopping for one she always ends up with too many extras and is forced to throw food in the trash.. well why not make a tart with it?? Buy some puff pastry (totally a waste of time to make your own) and throw on your extras.. taste amazing and saves doe rae mi ($). Prob solved..

Here is mine..

ARTICHOKE AND TOMATO TART

Ingredients:

• one sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 10 artichoke hearts (fresh or canned)
• 6 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
• small package goat cheese, crumbled
• small package feta, crumbled
• three fresh sprigs of thyme
• sprinkle of dried oregano
• kosher salt & pepper

Directions:

• pre-heat oven to 400 F/210 C
• roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured surface until almost twice the size of original sheet.
• cut pastry in half to make two rectangles.
• fold over sides to create an edges
• take a fork and gently poke small holes throughout
• brush egg over the edges to help brown in oven.
• arrange toppings to personal taste/creativity.. don't forget s & p!

Finally, bake for about 20 min. until golden brown... Voila!!

you can also make a......

PESTO, SPINACH, AND GORGONZOLA TART

With this tart follow the same directions with the pastry and baking. Just change the toppings! This one is inspired by the "norfolk special" pizza from Fellinis in Norfolk.. make my day.

Ingredients:

• one sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg
• a tiny bit of olive oil
• 3 spoonfuls pesto (bought or home-made.. recipe coming in spring!)
• 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
• two handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• small package of gorgonzola, in crumbles
• kosher salt & pepper

Directions:

• pre-heat oven to 400 F/210 C
• cook spinach with a little bit of olive oil in a pan until wilted.
• roll out pastry on a lightly-floured service to twice the size
• cut pastry in half to make two rectangles
• fold over sides of each rectangle to create edges
• take a fork and gently poke holes throughout
• brush egg over edges to help brown in oven
• arrange toppings!!!
• bake for 20 min. until golden brown.

Pesto Curls

150g (5.3 oz) parmesan, finely grated

80g (2.8 oz) almonds, toasted

1 clove of garlic

4 handfuls of greek basil

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 pack of puff pastry

sea salt and pepper for seasoning

flour for dusting

• place a frying pan over a medium heat and toast the almonds for 5 minutes or so, tossing often to ensure they do not burn
• in a small food processor blitz the almonds and garlic clove until crumb size
• then add the basil, parmesan, salt, pepper and olive oil, continue to blitz until a paste
• on a floured surface layout of the puff pastry, run a rolling pin over it a few times, just to stretch it out a little as pack pastry can often be quite thick
• spread the pesto over the entire sheet of pastry
• roll the opposite sides towards each other until the two rolls meet in the middle (try and roll it as tightly as possible without mutilating the shape)
• place in the fridge for an hour/hour and a half to let it rest
• preheat the oven to 180 C
• once chilled cut the roll into 1cm (2cm is fine as well) segments and lay out flat on a baking sheet
• place on middle shelf and check on them after 15 minutes
• transfer onto a wire rack to cool fully

I found this alternative recipe for pesto in Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook and thought it would work great as this pastry morsel. These are always a crowd pleaser accompanying drinks, however, you can use the pesto recipe in it's own right with pasta. Reserve a little of the pasta water to loosen it up, or add some olive oil to bulk it up and you can always use the old pine nuts instead, if you don't like almonds.

This form of pastry is also really versatile and you can add chopped sun-blushed tomatoes to the pesto, or crumble in some goat's cheese. Always be wary on how much salt you use as parmesan does a lot for seasoning.