<p>If you toast the walnuts they will not be as bitter. Also, served room temperature or warm: pesto on cheese tortellini. I add turkey Italian sausage for a dinner.</p>
<p>Oh, I do make a lasagne with pesto. Just make the lasagne the regular way with pesto inbetween the laryers, then add a bit of bechamel sauce on top. It simply melts.</p>
<p>You can use walnuts instead of pine nuts. Not quite the same taste, but the basil is so strong it doesn’t really matter. (One of these days, I’ll try peanuts or soy nuts, too.)</p>
<p>Just between you and me, I bought a mega bag of pine nuts at Walmart during their ‘open shopping, no membership required’ weekend earlier this year. It was worth it. 2lbs of pine nuts for the price of peanuts. Had to swallow my politics, however, as I am no big fan of Walmart’s business tactics.</p>
<p>Hey, if you use parsely in the recipe, is it still pesto?</p>
<p>Pesto has evolved from Pistou. The original Pistou recipes included basil and parsley but in Provence they frequently omitted the pine nuts. The Italians (mostly in and near Genoa) tended to add the pine nuts and omit the parsley. (thus Pesto Genovese)
At least that’s what I was told from the Provencal chef I learned to cook from!</p>
<p>Pesto is a staple at our house, always in the fridge. jordansmom, I make the same pizza, but use canned artichoke hearts (less oily) and skip the mozz. Another favorite is a toasted bagel with cream cheese and pesto. I sent my son off to grad school with enough frozen pesto to get him through the winter.</p>
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<p>It’s chimichurri, a similar sauce used in Argentina with steak. Delicious.</p>
<p>quick question… sort of related. D1 just called and was about to make pesto with a couple of her friends. One of them had heard that you shouldn’t make pesto in a blender, that it can ruin the blender. I told her it sounded like an urban myth, but I’m certainly not an expert on making home-made pesto, or blenders. Anyone else here of this? (of course it’s probably too late as she’s probably already done with it)</p>
<p>Yum, homemade pesto with very abundant basil this year and yes it feezes just fine. Our family favorite: Brown some bacon crispy and set aside, boil your favorite pasta. Sautee chopped zucchini til soft, quartered small cherry tomatoes, black olives, pinenuts or chopped walnuts. Add the pesto and crumbled bacon. Add the pasta toss and top with shredded parmesan. Easy, quick and uses all the veggies that are so abundant this time of year and my hates anything green kid likes it, too.</p>
<p>Teriwitt, when I first went to make mine in my blender or food processor combo, I out of habit went to the blender first - I could tell first zap that it wasn’t going to work well. So I dumped the ingredients out and plopped into the FP, and zap, no problem, blended quickly.</p>
<p>So while for me, it didn’t hurt my blender, it didn’t seem to work well (course, I only had it on for a few seconds)</p>
<p>perhaps the blender myth arises from the lingering taste of garlic in the daiquiris.</p>
<p>Bumping cause it’s that time of year and I’m hungry for home blended pesto again! </p>
<p>Made homemade pizza last night with freshly picked basil leaves on top and that made me anxious for a fresh batch of pesto…</p>
<p>Keep the recipes coming…</p>
<p>I just planted 3 basil plants so we will have pesto again this year! They grow amazingly large…</p>
<p>And I still have some that was stored in the freezer so I’m all set when the tomatoes start coming in. :)</p>
<p>I always use a blender.</p>
<p>And if you don’t have enough basil, parsley is a good stretch!</p>
<p>Hey, abasket, I’ve got at least 2 cups of pesto left over from D’s graduation open house. You’re welcome to it, as I think I’ve eaten enough of it over the last 5 days. It was really expensive to make (both pine nuts and fresh basil) so the thought of tossing it really bothers me. I made it a week before the party and then froze it. It still tastes great. We served it on pasta. Unfortunately, I think some of the kids have an aversion to anything green, hence the leftovers.</p>
<p>How did you serve it at the party? Oops, now I see - did you serve it on pasta at the party??? Interesting idea… ^^^</p>
<p>I still haven’t found pine nuts that are either not $24.99/lb or not a 5 lb. bag!!!</p>
<p>We love basil pesto over fettucine with a big spoonful of ricotta mixed in. Yum! Also, for you broccoli rabe fans, I was at a restaurant that served pasta with a broccoli rabe pesto. I guess zapped in a food processor with garlic, cheese, olive oil and salt and pepper. Double yum! Then there’s sun-dried tomato, spinach… Gosh, I could eat macaroni every day.</p>
<p>Meijers and Kroger both sell them in their produce sections. They are sometimes called pignoli nuts. And yes, $24.99/lb. doesn’t surprise me. I think I paid $7 for 1 cup of pine nuts.</p>
<p>I’ve got a great lasagna recipe where you make an alfredo sauce, mix in some pesto, and use that for the sauce…layer noodles, sauce, some cooked chicken, and mozz + monterey jack cheese…mmmmmmm…SOOOOO good (and very low in calories…NOT)</p>
<p>Pine nuts are my favorite, but I’ve also used (and like) blanched almonds and walnuts. During the winter, I use a combination of fresh flat-leaf parsley and dried basil. </p>
<p>Trader Joe’s generally has good prices on pine nuts. I think it’s a half-pound bag.</p>
<p>Has anyone mentioned grilled cheese with pesto and tomatoes?</p>
<p>I have used pine nuts, walnuts, and almonds in my pesto. It works fine. Gently toast the nuts first for a heightened flavor. I always freeze my pesto. I’ll add a bit of olive oil to reconstitute but it is still fine.</p>
<p>Another favorite recipe: tortellini (cheese or other) with pesto. Served at room tempreture it is perfect for a buffet. Add Italian sausage (we prefer chicken) and you have dinner.</p>