YAFT: Pesto - Yay or Nay?

[Mixolydian]

Yet another food thread.

Pesto.

Are you a fan or not? I had some for the first time in years and it was delish. Reminds me of when I was growing up, my mom would grow basil in her garden and make pesto from it. Yum.

 

[mmntech]

Pesto is great. Fantastic on pizza as an alternative to tomato sauce.

 

[Mixolydian]

Fantastic on pizza as an alternative to tomato sauce.

Yes! I had it on pizza tonight!

 

[lxskllr]

I was just reading an article on Opera, and I misread the title :^D

I'm a fan of pesto. I don't have it a lot, but it's a nice change of pace.

 

[KentState]

We make it homemade each year, freeze it and enjoy it at least weekly. Basil is pretty easy to grow will save a ton of money over buying it at the store.

 

[Gibsons]

Love it, been using it on sammiches lately.

 

[Baked]

Chicken pesto sammich = food orgasm

 

[Dr. Detroit]

We make homemade. High quality olive oil & Parmesan cheese is a must.

Hit a farmers market and buy 5-bunches or so, pull the leaves.

After you have had homemade the commercial stuff in the grocery store tastes disgusting.

 

[KentState]

We make homemade. High quality olive oil & Parmesan cheese is a must.

Hit a farmers market and buy 5-bunches or so, pull the leaves.

After you have had homemade the commercial stuff in the grocery store tastes disgusting.

Screw the farmers market. Grow it at home. Even a 5 gallon pot is enough for a ton of leaves.

 

[mrrman]

we still make it from scratch and freeze it

 

[natto fire]

I have a love-hate relationship with pesto. I love to eat it, but hated processing over 5 bushels of basil and 4-5 gallons of olive oil the last time I made it. I do like that the freezer doesn't seem to affect the flavor.

 

[IGemini]

I have a tweaked red pepper pesto recipe I like using for chicken. It's rather annoying to make by hand though...should really get a food processor at some point.

 

[Anonemous]

Ham and cheese pesto sandwich.

 

[Mixolydian]

I have a tweaked red pepper pesto recipe I like using for chicken. It's rather annoying to make by hand though...should really get a food processor at some point.

How do you make it without a food processor? :hmm: (genuinely curious, I'm no cook)

 

[Brigandier]

All these posts and no recipes to help out the curious?

Atot, I am disappoint.

 

[natto fire]

How do you make it without a food processor? :hmm: (genuinely curious, I'm no cook)

When we did it with a Robot Coupe, we would throw the trimmed basil as well as some walnuts in the chute. Chop that up, and then add oil to consistency. I suppose you could hand chop it, but I definitely had no reservations about using a machine for that job. I definitely had a good enough blade in my Wusthauf chef knife to pull it off, but not the patience to work the quantity.

 

[IGemini]

Someone asked for a recipe:

http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--2368/red-pepper-pesto.asp

My variation uses 2x the balsamic vinegar and no pine nuts. I like a more acidic taste to my pesto.

How do you make it without a food processor? :hmm: (genuinely curious, I'm no cook)

Basically hand-mincing, yeah. It's not fun when making a large batch, which is why I've only done it once purely by hand so far. It's not like I lack patience or don't know my way around a chef knife either, but the oil separates more if the pieces are too large.

 

[JulesMaximus]

We make homemade. High quality olive oil & Parmesan cheese is a must.

Hit a farmers market and buy 5-bunches or so, pull the leaves.

After you have had homemade the commercial stuff in the grocery store tastes disgusting.

Trader Joe's pesto is pretty good.

 

[preslove]

You can make it in a blender if you don't have a food processor.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Someone asked for a recipe:

http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--2368/red-pepper-pesto.asp

My variation uses 2x the balsamic vinegar and no pine nuts. I like a more acidic taste to my pesto.




Basically hand-mincing, yeah. It's not fun when making a large batch, which is why I've only done it once purely by hand so far. It's not like I lack patience or don't know my way around a chef knife either, but the oil separates more if the pieces are too large.

There is no way I'd ever use balsamic vinegar in pesto and I've never seen a recipe that calls for it either. Pesto is pretty simple. Basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, butter and salt. Always use fresh ingredients and a good Italian cheese (not that grated shit in a plastic tube you get at the grocery store). I prefer a nice salty romano cheese or parmigiano reggiano.

You cannot make good pesto without fresh living basil leaves or fresh garlic. A quality extra virgin olive oil is also mandatory.