Alternative Pestos

Partly from Antonius' symposium-level post, and others here recently, I'm wondering if any folks have positive experiences with pestos not of the usual basil+pine nut or parsley+walnut varieties.

I once made one of cilantro, a little serrano chile, cotija cheese, pine nuts (although pepitas would probably work too), garlic and olive oil that was quite nice. I can't for the life of me remember what the purpose was of doing so, (perhaps a pasta salad, perhaps not) but it was quite tasty, while keeping with the texture of more typical pestos.

Anybody else? Kelp, ginger and sesame oil, perhaps? Mint, preserved lemon and olive?

It's not that alternative, but sage pesto is pretty yummy. I use about equal parts sage and parsley, walnuts. parmesan (or similar), and olive oil.

Lemon basil, parsley, olive oil and very little garlic makes a nice pesto variant to put on charcoal-grilled fish such as halibut, wahoo or tuna.

JoelF wrote: I'm wondering if any folks have positive experiences with pestos not of the usual basil+pine nut or parsley+walnut varieties.

I once made one of cilantro, a little serrano chile, cotija cheese, pine nuts (although pepitas would probably work too), garlic and olive oil that was quite nice. I can't for the life of me remember what the purpose was of doing so, (perhaps a pasta salad, perhaps not) but it was quite tasty, while keeping with the texture of more typical pestos.

Joel:

Funny you should ask...

On a couple of occasions, most recently this past spring, I've made a pesto similar to what you describe. This pesto I came up with as part of an adapted Mexican dish, espagueti verde. I don't know whether the Mexican dish has been around a long time but I believe it is associated with Veracruz. It combines jalapeño, poblanos, onion and crema, as best I can remember. My version keeps all of those but the onion and adds a couple of things as well. Here's my dish:

Gli spaghetti verdi 'alla bella Malince'
© Antonius "the Pompously Self-Congratulatory yet Somehow Self-Effacing" Volcinus de Montibus



The 'pesto' element includes avocado (some rendered to paste, some small chunks left as well), roasted poblano, cilantro and a mild jalapeño, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic and a touch of olive oil. After all these are blended, I add a little crema. The final dish is garnished with chopped cilantro and walnuts. It is, if I do say so myself, quite tasty.

As you can see, there is a clear similarity between the sauce I make and the one you described above. I choose a mild jalapeño rather than a serrano in order to keep the heat-level down and not run any chance of overwhelming the other relatively mild flavours, though obviously, using a serrano would hardly be a bad thing. I use Parmesan in preference to cotija simply because I haven't been all that happy with most of the cotijas I've gotten here and no longer always have it on hand. I probably would have used pepitas, had I had them on hand, but the pine nuts work nicely.

There's another one I've been planning to make later this week and I'll post on that and include a picture soon, God willing.

Antonius

Just this sunday I made what I guess one could label a pesto, though the use I put it to was to marinate flank steak: lots of cilantro, lime juice, tequila, jalapeno, garlic, olive oil - beautiful bright green, somewhat runny (no nuts).

mrbarolo wrote:Just this sunday I made what I guess one could label a pesto, though the use I put it to was to marinate flank steak: lots of cilantro, lime juice, tequila, jalapeno, garlic, olive oil - beautiful bright green, somewhat runny (no nuts).

Sounds an awful lot like a modified chimmichurri. If we're counting herbal purees as pesto, that's certainly my fave fauxsto.

gleam wrote:Sounds an awful lot like a modified chimmichurri. If we're counting herbal purees as pesto, that's certainly my fave fauxsto.

Fauxsto or pestfaux? Hmmm.

Those of you who feel sun-dried tomatoes and garlic are overdone, scroll on. This is yummy, both as pasta sauce and bruschetta topping, especially in winter when fresh tomatoes and herbs are hard to come by.

Sun-dried tomato pesto

1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes in oil
4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until pureed. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

To make it with dried tomatoes that aren't oil packed, cover the dried tomatoes with hot water and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Process the drained tomatoes, garlic, salt and parsley till coarsely pureed. Continue to process while adding the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Blend in the lemon juice.

Bruschetta: Take thin baguette slices and lightly spread with the pesto. Sprinkle with parmesan and toast at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.

"Sun-dried" (actually dehydrated) tomatoes are one of my favorite ways to deal with garden-surplus cherry tomatoes.

I've made a pesto with spinach subbing for basil to use on grilled chicken, which worked pretty well. I've also seen, but never tried, recipes using arugula.

I adapt the following to what I have on hand. It's good as a cold salad and hot. I usually add fresh basil and enjoy the addition of roasted red and yellow peppers cut in thin strips. Any hot sauce works fine....

http://www.tabasco.com/html/recipes/lin ... pesto.html

Linguine With Spinach Pesto Sauce

Serves 4.

2 2/3 cup spinach leaves, fresh, loosely packed
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup walnuts
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small garlic clove
1 1/4 teaspoons basil leaves, dried
2 teaspoons TABASCO brand Garlic Pepper Sauce
1/3 teaspoon salt
2/3 lb. linguine, cooked
1. With a food processor or blender, combine spinach, 1/6 cup parmesan cheese, walnuts, olive oil, garlic, basil, TABASCO® brand Garlic Pepper Sauce and salt. Process until mixture is smooth. Makes 2/3 cup spinach pesto.

2. Toss pesto with cooked linguine to mix well. Serve with remaining cheese.

All of these sound delicious. Has the word pesto passed into the vernacular where it is understood simply as the opposite of a liquid sauce? I do this all the time myself, but never think of it as pesto. I think of it as dinner, with what's on hand, and that Himself (who's alternate name on these nights is Spaghetti Eddie) will be pleased when he gets home from a long day at work.

I admit I don't like menu language that explains a dish by a comparison to something else:

"A chicken breast with a pesto made from sun-dried tomatoes, the filling of oreo cookies, and hand picked dandelion greens"

Just tell me what the sauce is, and use words I can understand: what are the flavors, the consistency, and the provenance. I won't be offended if it isn't "la vera this" or "la vera that," I would actually appreciate knowing if the was "la vera inspration of the chef."

But apparently that won't sell as many meals.

annieb wrote:"A chicken breast with a pesto made from sun-dried tomatoes, the filling of oreo cookies, and hand picked dandelion greens"

Mmmmm...

To my excessively etymologically oriented way of thinking, 'pesto' should at least in a very narrow sense be applied to something where one or more major components are pounded, but since pounding has been largely replaced by mechanical reduction by means of a blender or food processor, it seems quite reasonable to extend the name to sauces in which one or more major components are so processed. Or perhaps then by extension we should just use the term in reference to texture of the final product...

Do you crush the oreos for the filling of the chicken with mortar and pestle? If so, it's pesto d'oreo.



Antonius

Heck, Wikipedia claims pesto started out basil-free.

annieb wrote:"A chicken breast with a pesto made from sun-dried tomatoes, the filling of oreo cookies, and hand picked dandelion greens"

AnnieB,

As the enthusiastic young Trixie said, in reference to Wholly Frijoles on Check Please, Double-Yum.

Enjoy,
Gary

Actually, I can never make the pesto d'oreo, as I lick the filling from the oreos before I'm remembering what I'm making for dinner

So a pistou would then be what? A soup with anything smashed up in it? Maybe that's what I can use those leftover outsides of the oreo cookies for. They seem sort of forlorn and unappentizing on their own.

annieb wrote:Maybe that's what I can use those leftover outsides of the oreo cookies for. They seem sort of forlorn and unappentizing on their own.

Rum balls, truffle mice and dirt cake!

I picked up a lemon basil plant at the Evanston farmers market earlier this summer. Used it tonight to make Lemon Basil Pesto which was served with spinach chive linguine from Trader Joes. It had a light herbal citrus flavor. I was glad that I made it with half spinach and half lemon basil. Lemon basil alone would have probably been too much citrus flavor.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped lemon basil (include floral tops if possible)
1 cup chopped spinach
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¾ tsp salt
¼ cup toasted walnuts

Toast walnuts in a skillet over medium heat. Allow walnuts to cool. In a food processor, place the spinach, basil, toasted nuts, salt and pepper and process on high for at least a few seconds before slowly adding the olive oil. Allow everything to blend at least 20 seconds once all of the olive oil has been added.

Serve over pasta. If desired garnish with grated cheese.

I highly reccd. a book from the 80's (1985 exactly)
Pestos!
Cooking with Herb Pastes
by Dorothy Rankin...
ISBN 0-89594-180-5

In which she writes that in Genoa alone
(the birthplace of Pesto)- the variables in a "classic" basil pesto are many. No two towns make it alike.
One uses butter. Another uses cream(?).
One may call for Sardo Pecorino ( a sheep milk cheese),
Where here we'll use Parmesan, or Romano Pecorino. ( I like a Locatelli myself!! )

She has recipes using Sorrel, Mint, Cilantro, Fennel (both seeds and white bulb with Parsley adding the green ), Lemon Thyme, Caraway & Thyme,Winter Kale & Sunflower Seeds, etc....
To cook/"pound" out all of her permutations- would take up many pounds of pasta....

It's a great little book for inspiration and variations on a theme!!

Great idea for a post! Glad this one got bumped.
2 thoughts:
This post makes me want to try the sage pesto in the Zuni Cafe cookbook
I like to make a preserved lemon, anchovy, olive oil, almond, green olive pesto (+/- capers, bread crumbs, cheese)

This week, I was already planning on making the tomato-almond pesto (registration required) from Cooks Illustrated before the bump. Now there are a lot of other ideas to try. I think the weeks ahead will be filled with pasta.

Wow. I just made the CI pesto alla trapanese linked above and it is delicious. I can only imagine it will be better with pasta and parm.

1/4 C toasted slivered almonds cooled to room temperature
12 oz grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 C fresh basil
1 t table salt
1 minced peperoncini (or sub a 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar)
1 minced garlic clove
pinch red pepper flakes (in addition to the substitution above)

Combine above in food processor for a minute. Scrape down the sides. Pour in 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil while the machine is running until things are combined (less than a minute).

Serve with pasta in the usual fashion.

gastro gnome wrote:Wow. I just made the CI pesto alla trapanese linked above and it is delicious. I can only imagine it will be better with pasta and parm.

I was amazed by how delicious this was when it all came together.

ViewsAskew wrote: It's fascinating to me how satisfying growing your own food can be.

You're not kidding!
It's funny how attached I am to my little sweet 100 tomato plants (well, they're not so little, they've completely taken over my garden since I planted four of them too close together). I've never been able to grow anything, but this season, I've tried to buckle down and be very attentive to my little plant babies.
So, I was really happy to be able to make this pesto all trapanese with basil and cherry tomatoes from the garden.