'Pesto' made from seasonal veg not herbs?

katmad99

Ok. i have a big food blender (for smoothies etc) but i know what you mean about it not being liquid enough to work, i think i'm going to look into getting a small hand blender for making mixes like pesto etc...i'd love to try making hummous too, so it would be worth me buying one.

Robothell

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

....... pine nuts, garlic, nutmeg, sunflower oil, single cream and 'parmesan'. I wilted the kale in oil with garlic before blitzing it all.....QUOTE]

Er, maybe I'm just being stupid but why is parmesan in inverted commas.......you using some sort of OS parmesan substitute that I don't know about?

NHSslave_2

I have used rocket to make pesto before-one of those pre-washed bags bought in my pre-OS days and forgotten about in the fridge til it had wilted. made in the braun hand blender thingy (technical term!) with olive oil, parmesan and garlic. The first time I made it I didn't have any pine nuts so was made with no nuts-didn't taste much different just put in extra cheese. Was yummy stirred into hot pasta:D
katie

ti1980

In the M&S store that I work at they sell a sundried tomato pesto. Now I have to admit that I only tried sundried tomatoes for the first time a couple of weeks ago (not the biggest tomato fan) and they were gorgeous! I know that anything M&S do, most Old-Stylers can make it better and cheaper!:)
I am definitely going to have to try it as I love pesto but I will wait until its on offer!
When things are on offer though at a decent price I wonder if it can be made cheaper by an Old Styler.

JillD_2

how funny, I saw your thread and whilst waiting for it to open I thought "I wonder if you could do that with kale ?" :j

We keep getting bags of it with the veg boxes I occasionally get and whilst its nice as a side veg for one meal I do feel its a bit cowfeed-like (the newsletter we get even says its mostly grown for cattle). So a differnt use would be good.

I have an oldish bag in the fridge, might well give it a try so thanks for this
Jill

Gingham_Ribbon

Robothell, you get vegetarian substitutes for parmesan. And, though I could be wrong here, I believe that parmesan is the expensive stuff and the other hard cheeses are not allowed to call themselves parmesan though they are similar. (Just like the term champagne can't be universally used.)

I admit to being a terrible vegetarian and buying parmesan if I can't get the veggie stuff though.

happyathome_withmyboys

Wild garlic works - and it is free!

kittykat500

I've got a load of reduced rocket to use up so I'm off to make a pesto version using tahini, garlic and parmesan and see if it passes the 'teenage' test! I normally grind hummous and such in an electric grinder that I got with my blender which works well - if only for smallish amounts.

ti1980

What about parsley pesto?
Watercress pesto?
Roasted pepper pesto?
Aubergine pesto?
Spinach pesto?

I don't know if any of these are in season or not.

Gingham_Ribbon

Good ideas, Ti, thanks. Have you made any of these before and did you use anything different in them?