June 7, 2004
Duo de Pesto : Pesto de Roquette et Pesto Rouge
[A Duet of Pesto : Rucola Pesto and Red Pesto]
On Saturday night, my dear friends Marie-Laure and Laurence and their respective (and dear, too) boyfriends Ludo and Jean-Christophe came over for dinner. This had been decided just the day before, so Saturday morning saw me sitting on the couch, surrounded by cookbooks, perusing them for inspiration. In passing, I have plans to create an exercice video which I will simply call "The Cookbook Workout" : I'm certain I burn an insane number of calories just lugging those piles of cookbooks around, from shelf to couch to counter, and back to shelf.
I decided to keep things simple, and skip the first course, replacing it with a little something to eat with the apéritif (pre-dinner drink). I like doing things that way, because it's a friendly, laid-back way to start the meal, and I like the dynamics it creates, allowing people to hover around the bar and mingle. I also like to welcome my friends with something homemade : they're probably hungry, and what you eat on an empty stomach is what you appreciate best, so it might as well be something I've lovingly prepared, no?
The idea of making pesto variations had been on my mind for a while : you start from the basic pesto recipe (basil, pinenuts, pecorino and/or parmesan cheese, olive oil and garlic), and work from there, replacing some of the ingredients by their cousins, be they close or removed -- another kind of herb, another kind of nut, another kind of cheese. In this instance, I made two variations : I made a green rucola pesto, subbing rucola leaves (a.k.a. arugula) for the basil, and I used sundried tomatoes to make a red pesto.
I served both in their little jars, with a basket of thin ciabatta slices and two knives : each of us could prepare his own little canapés, putting as little or as much of the pesto of his choice as suited his taste. In truth I ended up doing most of the spreading while we chatted, but that's just because I enjoy those things. And you know, these boys get so engrossed in conversation that they'll starve if you're not careful.
I will most definitely do this again : it is colorful and tasty, it is incredibly easy to make, and it gives me the perfect excuse to buy a big and beautiful granite mortar and pestle! You can prepare the pestos ahead, and keep them on hand for an improvized mini-meal. The pestos can also be used like regular pesto of course, in pasta, as a sandwich spread, as a salad dressing...
Pesto de Roquette
- 2 large handfuls of rucola, rinsed and dried
- 3 Tbsp pinenuts
- 3 Tbsp parmesan
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
Combine all ingredients in mortar (preferably) or a food processor. Pestle or mix until smooth. Try a bit, and add more of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.
Pesto Rouge
- 8 pieces of sundried tomato (packed dry -- reduce olive oil by one Tbsp if using packed in oil)
- 3 Tbsp pinenuts
- 3 Tbsp parmesan
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
Combine all ingredients in mortar (preferably) or a food processor. Pestle or mix until smooth. Try a bit, and add more of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.
Never miss a recipe!
Sign up for the Chocolate & Zucchini newsletter to receive monthly news and a digest of recent entries.
More Recipes Like This One:
~ Fregola Sarda with Zucchini and Pinenuts
~ Tomato Feta Dip
~ Goat's Milk Faisselle with Chives
~ Strawberry Basil Pesto
~ Plum Tomatoes with Pecorino
Print me! | 
Send by email
| 
Comments (13)
Permalink | Posted by clotilde in Appetizers - Jams & Dips - Recipe Inside!
I have an addition to your cookbook work out: you could add sections that pertain specifically to cooking. Say, an eggwhite beating session...good for the triceps. A lifting the KitchenAid and moving it around the kitchen...probably good for the core. Knee bends in front of the oven while baking a souffle. I think we have a money-making scheme on our hands!
Posted by Jennifer on June 7, 2004 3:23 PMI agree with Jennifer about the egg-white beating and cream beating workouts. I whip mine by hand expressly for this reason, occasionally swtiching sides so my arms won't unbalanced.
One of my favorite summer salads is tortellini salad with pesto dressing. Toss warm, drained cheese tortellini with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar. When cool, dress with as much basil pesto as you wish, along with matchsticks of multi-colored bell peppers and diced red onion.
Posted by Adele on June 7, 2004 5:10 PMI agree with both J & A and add butter and sugar blending to the egg beating workout.
As for pesto, another interesting flavour in lieu of the traditional basil is a wild fennel pesto -- great on fresh spaghetti with hot pepper flecks.
Posted by daphne on June 7, 2004 8:50 PMagreed with the other workouts, but let's not forget the dough kneading, and copper pot lifting! thanksgiving dinners with 18 pound turkeys, will certainly work off that meal.
for those americans, roquette is arugula in american...and agreed Clotide, it makes a lovely pesto!
Posted by Megan on June 7, 2004 9:09 PMOh you could start a session of workout already when you go shopping at supermarkets, walking down every aisle while pushing/carrying an increasingly heavier cart/basket (and if you live in downtown and go shopping without a car, carrying all those heavy bags home would be another round). Handling a Le Creuset skillet would give us another challenge, but just being in a hot kitchen and cooking with the oven and stovetop would certainly help burn extra calories...
Okay, pestoes. I love them. both basil and roquette ones. People also make a cilantro pesto, but I don't know about this as I hate cilantro (coriander leaves). I will certainly love a sun-dried tomato pesto, though!
Posted by chika on June 8, 2004 2:12 AMWoo, now that sundried tomato pesto is something I'd like to have a go at. Just as I was wondering what to do with my pack of sundrieds sans oil. Yummy.
Posted by Theresa on June 8, 2004 1:01 PMWe made spinach pesto in Singapore when basil was expensive. It was our 'poor man's' pesto, but it did well. Seems like a pesto is whatever you want it to be!
Chika --
Does cilantro taste like soap to you? I hear that's very common. The leaves do taste soapy to me, and I used to avoid them but it's kinda grown on me now. I like to add it to fresh salsas and it makes a great Thai-inspired mix with basil and lots of fresh mint.
Posted by Adele on June 8, 2004 2:13 PMJennifer, Chika and Megan - Excellent suggestions, I'm making a note of them, will talk to my agent! :)
Adele - Your tortellini salad sounds heavenly, and is making me hungry!
Daphne - I don't think I've ever seen wild fennel : does it look like a herb? Or like fennel bulbs?
Theresa - Let me know how you like it if you try it!
Adele - Funny the number of people who do not care for cilantro. I discovered it in the US, in Mexican food and I've always liked it very much!
Posted by clotilde on June 8, 2004 6:28 PMAdele & Clotilde,
Posted by chika on June 8, 2004 7:47 PMTastes like soap? Yeah I think it does. But what I hate the most about cilantro is its smell... it smells like a kind of insects (excuse me!). Apart from Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese dishes often have those leaves in them, which could (in my opinion) spoil the whole dish! Well I guess it is something you either love or hate. I don't mind coriander seeds, by the way.
salut Clothilde! I love your blog and read avidly from london. I thought you may like to know of my latest use for your pesto - mixed with fromage frais and spread thinly onto a very thin tarte base (yeasty, pizza-like dough rolled very thin) then topped with the last good tomatoes sliced with shallots - in the oven (250) for 12 mins....Alex
Posted by Alex on September 30, 2004 12:42 PMAlex - That sounds great, I'll have to remember that, thanks!
Posted by clotilde on October 8, 2004 9:42 AMhey-- i don't know if you'll get this as it's some months after the post, but i just discovered your blog and its awesome. i am a college student from north carolina, usa and i LOVE to cook. all of those pesto recipes look great. i also like to make a red pesto with homemade roasted red peppers and toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts. its so yummy!
Posted by Anna on November 12, 2004 11:23 PMlove, anna
...I'll never understand people who don't like coriander. Try this pesto:
60g coriander leaf
60g roasted peanuts
2 deseeded red chillies
40g pecorino
handful prurple basil
handful flat leaf parsley
peanut or sunflower oil
Posted by s l on July 4, 2005 1:14 PMPrivacy. The email addresses you enter will not be used for any other purpose than the sending of this message.