When I think about making pesto, I see Bella Italia in front of me…and I love Italian food. The best of pesto is that you can make it fast, delicious and you can make hundreds of combination – pasta, gnocchi, risotto, finger food, bread, dip…you name it. Two flavors are most popular – basil pesto and dried tomatoes pesto.
The red one is dried tomatoes pesto with the finest homemade olive oil from Croatia, garlic, Feta cheese, lemon juice, basil, pine nuts. The right green is fresh herbs pesto (parsley, basil, coriander, majoran), walnuts, fresh cheese, olive oil, garlic, lime juice. And the second green one (left) is classic rocket pesto with pine nuts and flavorful hard cheese (Pecorino or any other hard flavorful cheese). I enjoy bitterness of rocket, salty taste of sundried tomaties and blend of strong taste of fresh spices…just pasta and some extra cheese with few nuts all over.
By adding more or less olive oil, you decide what consistency of pesto you want. And add any cheese you like, maybe you discover some new tastes that you are going to like even more 🙂
Sun-Dried tomatoe pesto
Ingredients:
One jar of dried tomatoes with oil or 1 pack without oil
A handful of pine nuts
2-3 cloves of garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
Lemon juice
Feta cheese
Olive oil (more if you have dried tomatoes without oil)
A handful of fresh basil
Toast pine nuts on a frying pan without oil. All ingredients, except cheese, mix in food processor. Add cheese and mix it with a spoon. Season with lemon juice as needed. Put in little jar and store in a fridge.
Fresh Herbs Pesto
Ingredients:
A handful of fresh parsley
A handful of fresh coriander
A handful of fresh basil
A handful of fresh Marjoram
A handful of walnuts
2-3 cloves of garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
Lemon juice
Fresh cheese
Olive oil
Toast walnuts on a frying pan without oil and chop them. All ingredients, except cheese, mix in food processor. Add cheese with a spoon, do not mix it with food processor. Season with lemon juice as needed. Put in little jar and store in a fridge.
Rocket Pesto
Ingredients:
About 200 g rocket
A handful of pine nuts
2-3 cloves of garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
Lemon juice
Pecorino (sheep cheese) or any other flavorful hard cheese
Olive oil (homemade)
Toast pine nuts on a frying pan without oil. All ingredients, except cheese, mix in food processor. Add cheese but just stir it with a spoon. Season with lemon juice as needed. Put in a little jar and store in a fridge.
-Croatian version-
Jedno od onih jela koji se pripremaju brzo i lagano, a mogu se koristiti u nebrojeno kombinacija. Ja ga najčešće jedem uz tjesteninu s ekstra porcijom sira. Osim toga, pesto je izvrstan u rižotu, s njokima, u pecivima i kruhu ili jednostavno kao dip. Dva su se okusa pesta davno ukorijenila u kuhinji – onaj od bosiljka te od sušenih rajčica.
Crveni je od suncem osunčanih rajčica uz dodatak domaćeg maslinovog ulja iz Vela Luke, češnjaka, pinjola, feta sira, limunovog soka, bosiljka. Zeleni na desnoj strani je od svježih začina (peršin, korijander, mažuran, bosiljak), svježeg sira, oraha, maslinovog ulja, limete, češnjaka. A drugi zeleni (lijevo) je klasik od rukole s tvrdim, aromatičnim sirom (pecorino ili neki sličan, tvrdi, aromatčni). Obožavam okus blago gorke rukole, slani okus sušenih rajčica i svježih začina intenzivnih okusa ublaženog svježim sirom. I pristojna porcija al dente skuhane tjestenine, red-dva svježe naribanog sira i malo preprženih pinjola ili oraha.
Konzistenciju određujete sami dodatkom više ili manje maslinovog ulja. Vrstu sira birajte prema okusu, a sol i papar ja nisam koristila jer mi nisu u ovim kombinacijama trebali.
Pesto od sušenih rajčica
Potrebno:
1 teglica sušenih rajčica u ulju ili vrećica sušenih
Šaka pinjola
2-3 češnja češnjaka
Korica jednog limuna
Šaka svježeg bosiljka
Sok pola limuna
Feta sir
Maslinovo ulje (malo, ako koristite sušene rajčice u ulju, a više ako koristite sušene rajčice bez ulja)
Pinjole prepržite na vrućoj tavi bez ulja. Sve zajedno, osim sira, usitnite u multipraktiku. Njega dodajte tek kada ste već usitnili prethodno navedene sastojke, ali umiješajte žlicom, a ne mikserom. Naknadno začinite po okusu s limunovim sokom. Čuvati u dobro zatvorenoj teglici u hladnjaku.
Pesto od svježih začina
Potrebno:
Šaka svježeg peršina
Šaka svježeg korijandera
Šaka svježeg mažurana
Šaka svježeg bosiljka
Šaka oraha
2-3 češnja češnjaka
Korica jednog limuna ili limete
Sok pola limuna ili limete
Svježi kravlji sir
Maslinovo ulje
Orahe prepržite na vrućoj tavi bez ulja i gruboih ih narežite. Sve zajedno, osim sira, usitnite u multipraktiku. Njega dodajte tek kada ste već usitnili prethodno navedene sastojke, ali umiješajte žlicom, ne mikserom. Naknadno začinite po okusu s limunovim/limetinim sokom. Čuvati u dobro zatvorenoj teglici u hladnjaku.
Pesto od rukole
Potrebno:
Oko 200 g rukole
Šaka tostiranih pinjola
2-3 češnja češnjaka
Korica jednog limuna
Sok pola limuna
Pecorino (ovčji) sir ili neki sličan tvrdi, intenzivnijeg okusa, sitnije nariban
Maslinovo ulje (po mogućnosti domaće)
Sve zajedno, osim sira ulja, usitnite u multipraktiku. Sir dodajte tek kada ste već usitnili prethodno navedene sastojke. Naknadno začinite po okusu s limunovim sokom. Čuvati u dobro zatvorenoj teglici u hladnjaku.
