Saturday, July 3, 2010

I Stand Corrected - Tomato Almond Pesto

I knew in the back of my head that I was wrong. Even as I typed it in a sweet missive to you, my readers, I knew I was lying...or at least stretching the truth.....could have been a lie of omission. The truth is, I was in a hurry, and aiming not to complicate the issue.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m referring to my post about Asparagus Pesto. In that post, I came right out and said that when you want pesto, you just start with anything green, and add nuts, oil, parmesan and other ingredients.

That much is, indeed, true. But I was keeping something from you.

The truth is.....it doesn’t have to be green. And I knew that. But. I didn’t tell you that.

Well I’m telling you now!!!

One of the recipes Ginny brought with her was one for a Tomato Almond Pesto. This one originally comes to us from America’s Test Kitchen (of which Ginny is a big fan), although we have made significant modifications (since we started cooking before we had the recipe fully in hand) to the recipe, so I will give you our abbreviated version, although I plan to go back at a later date and try my hand at the spicier original, too.

For our purposes, we started with a clean food processor and added a couple of cups of sweet grape tomatoes. Then we added a handful of slivered almonds that we toasted in a dry pan with a few cloves of garlic. And the garlic. Then a good handful of fresh basil leaves, some parmesan cheese and enough olive oil to make a nice smooth paste.

As with any pesto, the amounts may vary depending on what you have on hand, but the result is always the same, a huge flavor punch that makes a wonderful complement to pasta and any number of other things. But, we had pasta on the brain that day, so that's where this particular pesto ended up. Pure tomato yumminess.

2 comments:

Joanne said...

Tomato pesto is one I've never made, but I'm a sucker for a good roasted red pepper pesto. This will definitely be made in the near future! Because really, any kind of pesto makes me happy.

Unknown said...

Why do I bother trying to come up with new ideas for our meals? Just before grocery shopping, I need to just check your blog and shop accordingly. Please tell Ginny thank you!! This looks great :-)