Pesto is most
conveniently made available from a packet on your grocery aisle in the form of
dehydrated herbs, spices and additives you can hardly enunciate. Recomposed
with butter or olive oil and added to your noodles, they easily beat 15 minute
meals. It is only when you take to account nutrition and taste that this
instant sachet falls off your dining table.
Homemade food has always been the
paradigm of epicurean goodness. Making homemade Pesto is actually very easy, other
than the taste nothing beats the aroma coming from fresh ingredients.
Traditionally in Northern Italy, Pesto is consists of crushed garlic,
basil and pine nuts
blended with olive
oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. Taste is relative
and some find using basil all the way too pungent to taste therefore end up
mixing minimal amount of pesto on their pasta noodles.
This recipe is a twist, incorporating
spinach 1:1 with basil. This tones down the sharpness of the herb, enhances the
color of your pesto to brilliant green and substantiates the nutrition value of
your pesto.
Ingredients : Pesto
2
portions
of Basil leaves
2
portions
of Spinach leaves
½
cup
extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup
sunflower seeds (or pine nuts)
¼
cup
grated gouda cheese
4
garlic
cloves
2 tablespoons
of capers (or green olives)
To
taste Red pepper flakes
(optional)
Combine all ingredients
in food processor. Blend until paste forms, add EVOO to thin & blend until
smooth. Transfer to small bowl and chill.
Pure basil pesto is
usually paired with linguine, penne or farfalle. This type though, considering
it is incorporated with spinach is best paired with a pasta noodle with a
texture that could hold the most pesto on its surface. Pasta noodles which are thick
could easily overpower this spinach-basil pesto. Fusilli or Rotini seems to be
best. Spaghettini, if you long for ‘slurp pasta…’
Pour Extra Virgin Olive
oil in a pan and set until hot. Remove the pan from heat; add pesto and sauté
in the cooked pasta. Mix evenly and serve. Add freshly ground pepper & salt
to taste.
Pesto doesn’t stop with
pasta. Check out this link to give you more ideas where to use that bowl of
goodness in your fridge.
And as for wine pairings,everyone would say Chardonnay but go try it with your favorite red..after all, its your food, your life & your taste!
