To Make a Condiment: Pesto

Pesto is so easy to make! And, there are so many variations. Plus, it's super hard to screw up and you can just basically throw stuff (herb + nut + parmesan cheese [other hard cheese??] + olive oil) in the food processor and it'll be good. I made it Friday and now it's gone since I used it on two different dinners.

Traditional pesto includes basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, & parmesan. But, then I saw a recipe on Food & Wine for pistachio pesto with mint! I made it, and it was delicious. Making that opened my eyes to the versatility of the this delicious thing. Once, I made it with less olive oil so that it was quite thick. And then, when I served it, I put a lot of oil on top of it so it was more like flavored oil than a dip for some homemade sour dough bread (I did NOT make that; Mauerbaker did). It was a hit.

Friday night, I made my version of pesto. Which was not too inventive, but was slightly askew.

A package of basil (this is not a real measurement)

1/4 lemon

zest from 1/2 lemon

3 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper

Throw all the things in the food processor, except oil. Just stir that in at the end. It was much garlickier than some other recipes & somewhat brighter with the addition of the lemon. I used the sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts, because similar to walnuts, pine nuts are a million dollars. Then, just put it on stuff.

Friday, I requested to put it on the pizza Mauerbaker made.

This pizza is avant-garde in shape. It's doing the best it can. Also, it was gone in like 3 minutes due to deliciousness. Looks can be deceiving, etc.

Monday, I put it on homemade spaetzle. (Recipe to come soon.)

Some people might take the time to clean the edges of bowl for photo-readiness. But, I was hOngry.

Put some pesto on it. (The new "put a bird on it.")