April 12, 2010

Hey Pesto!


I know I was only saying a few weeks ago how dated pesto is. And I still think it's more 90's than Cindy Crawford but Parsley Pesto? Yeah! Parsley Pesto is gorgeous! I was given a whole load of normal curly parsley and was trying to think of a way to preserve it. So I decided pesto would be the best bet.


Parsley is bursting with iron, vitamins and folic acid. It's a great anti oxidant and blood purifier, a magical herb! (But not the most magical herb eh? Wiiiiiink.) It's also one of the easiest herbs to grow so you could be making a load of Parsley Pesto before you know it!


This recipe just involves assembling everything really, it only takes a few minutes.


Ingredients

3oz curly parsley
3-4 garlic cloves
3oz Parmesan grated
3oz pine kernels (lightly toasted)
8 fl oz olive oil
Salt & black pepper

Makes 3 small jars

Method
Put the parsley, garlic, pine kernels and parmesan into a food processor and whizz for a few seconds. I decided to keep my fairly chunky as I didn't want a paste. Add the oil, salt & pepper. Taste it to make sure it's garlicky enough etc. Pour into sterilized jars and cover the top with olive oil, seal and keep in the fridge.
This should easily keep for 2 weeks but just make sure there is an even layer of oil covering the top at all times.
So far I've had this in sandwiches, stirred into soup, added to tzatziki, thinned down with more oil for a quick salad dressing and served with roast vegetables. All in two days! A great versatile pesto to have without the dominant heady sweetness of basil. Enjoy!
Lilly x

6 comments:

  1. This looks delicious! What a dinky little pot also, looks just like a little yogurt one I use to store beads! (second comment involving yogurt... hmmm maybe I should branch out on the dairy front...?) I'm curious though, what's the difference between curly parsley and regular parsley? x

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  2. Not a fan of parsley I must say, I think I just have residual panic from childhood encounters with giant stalks in my soup.

    This does look a bit yummy though...

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  3. Thanks Girls!
    It is a yoghurt jar, you know those Glenilen Farm ones where you get stewed rhubarb or raspberries on the bottom, yum. I love them.
    I think the difference between flat italian parsley and normal curly stuff is:
    The flat stuff is stronger tasting supposedly.
    The curly stuff has a different texture and is a bit coarse. Still has a lovely parsley taste though!

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  4. Brilliantly timed post! My parsley plant went through a bit of a growth spurt there and I desperately didn't want to throw any of it out so had taken to giving any callers little bags of the stuff. Now I have a bald plant and two jars of pesto in the fridge - it tastes lovely too. Thanks Lilly!

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  5. Yay! That's great! I'm delighted that you made it. All mine is gone now so I'll have to make more!

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  6. Lilly, you have an enchanting blog here. :)

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Let me know what you think!x