Pesto

Pesto has got to be one of the most versatile spreads in the world. And so easy to personalize. Pesto is just a combination of greens/ herbs, nuts and cheese with a wonderful addition of olive oil.

Here is a wonderfully easy recipe for pesto. Feel free to use any combination of greens/ herbs and nuts. Some good ideas are spinach, basil or even sun-dried tomatoes. And any nuts at all. I like to go with a sharper cheese, and hard cheeses seem to give it a nice texture, but feel free to use a creamy cheese (like goat's).

Pesto

2 cups Herbs/ Greens (I used cilantro)

1/2 cup Cheese (I used Parmesan)

1/2 cup Olive Oil (I used extra virgin)

1/3 cup Nuts (I used walnuts)

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

Salt + Pepper, to taste

Pulse the cilantro and nuts in a mixer. Add garlic and pulse. Pour the oil into the mixer in a constant stream while continuing to pulse. Mix in the cheese and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper at the end.

Use the pesto as is. Mix it with some hot, cooked pasta. Spread it on toast. Use it as a base for pizza. Or eat it by the spoon! Some recipes that use pesto from this blog:

Pesto & Garlic Bread, Gnocchi, Pizza, Mushroom Soup and Pesto Toast and Bites of Toast.

Pesto and Garlic Bread

I've been MIA for a long while. I haven't been cooking much either. And had serious writer's block! Thanks to everyone who enquired after me! Not sure if I'm back but I wanted to share a recipe that I kind of created recently.


Pesto and Garlic Bread

For the Bread:
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1.5 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Cold Butter
400 ml Water

For the Flavors:
4-5 cloves of Garlic, roasted and chopped
1/4 cup Pesto

Mix all the ingredients together and knead the dough until it begins to feel smooth to the touch (about 10 minutes). Place the dough in an oiled container and cover with a muslin cloth. Leave it in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Remove the dough and shape into a log. Cut into three portions. Roll each portion out to a rough rectangle. Spread one side of each rectangle with pesto (I used homemade walnut and spinach pesto) and the chopped garlic. Roll each portion up as tight as possible. Place in a loaf pan with the seam side down. Repeat for the other portions and place alongside each other.


Cover with a muslin cloth and leave in a warm place until doubled again (about 45 minutes to an hour). Preheat the oven to 220 deg C. Bake the risen bread for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and when tapped, sounds hollow.

This was delicious. And the pesto gave the bread a much softer crumb than regular bread. And it had the added advantage of being very pretty!


This bread is off to Susan @ Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a pasta made primarily with mashed potatoes and a little bit of flour. When it's good, they can be little pillows of heaven - light and flavorful. But when they're badly made, they are just lumps of lead. The key to making good gnocchi is a light touch and lots of practice! Let's just say the recipe I used from Smitten Kitchen was absolutely fantastic but I need lots of practice - mine were definitely not pillows of heaven, but they were full of flavor and we loved them.

Gnocchi
(recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

2 pounds Potatoes (the more flour-y the potatoes, the better. We don't get russet here, so I made do with large golden potatoes)
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 Egg, lightly beaten


Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork and bake in the oven until tender. Allow to cool slightly and peel the potatoes. Grate the potatoes using the large holes of a box grater.

Add the salt and the egg to the potatoes and mix well. Spoon the flour into the potato mixture a little at a time, just using enough so that the dough comes together and doesn't stick to your hands. Transfer the dough out onto a kneading surface and knead the dough for about 3-4 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, with a very light touch, roll each piece into a long rope about 3/4" thick. Cut 1" pieces from the rope.


Now comes the part that requires a lot of practice. Gnocchi has little ridges that are, I think, mainly there for cosmetic reasons, but they also trap sauce very well. And, hey, it just doesn't look like gnocchi if it doesn't have the ridges.


To get the ridges, pass each piece on the inside of a fork, pressing slightly on the tines. I was afraid of handling the dough too much and so didn't put enough pressure. The ridges were there, but not very prominent.

The gnocchi can be frozen at this stage. Remember to first freeze them on a tray and then drop them into a ziploc bag once frozen. If cooking them right away, drop the pieces into a pot of salted boiling water. The gnocchi will start to float to the top, let it cook for another minute and then remove with a slotted spoon.

I tossed the gnocchi with homemade spinach-walnut pesto and grated some fresh Parmesan over it. Delicious!


For some lovely unusual gnocchi, see the Celery Leaf Gnocchi at Ideas in Food, Sweet Potato Gnocchi at Wild Yeast, Olive Gnocchi at Vegalicious and Peach Gnocchi at 101 Cookbooks.


Check out my fellow marathoners:
DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, Pavani, Karuna and Roochi.

Soup and Toast

If you haven't heard of the Taste and Create event, I can only introduce it as one of the most fun events in the blogosphere. Started by Nicole of For the Love of Food, it pairs random bloggers together and you get to make something from the other person's blog. It opens up your horizons, introducing you to some special blogs and amazing recipes.

This month I was paired with Mable Tan of Happee Monkee. She does some fantastic baking and lovely photographs. Her writing is light and interesting, and one can lose track of time reading up on her varied posts.

Lately, I've been trying to discover different kinds of soup, and so I had to try her Mushroom Soup with Pesto Toast. And I'm glad I did, because it was fabulous. I'm eating it right now and couldn't wait to write about it! Slurp!


Mushroom Soup
(check here for the recipe - I made a couple of small changes)

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced (I used button)
2 cups Water
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Onion, sliced
1-2 tbsp Butter

Saute the garlic and onions in the butter until soft. Add the mushrooms and allow to soften. Add the water and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Process in batches in a blender until combined. Return to heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Pesto Toast

She makes a lovely spinach and basil pesto. I used spinach, pine nuts and parmesan. Spread the pesto on toast and sprinkle with parmesan. I let it melt in a toaster oven for about 5 minutes.


The soup was so great. I know I'm going to make it very often - my daughter loved it too. And the toast was a perfect accompaniment. We are enjoying our lovely lunch. Thanks!