(Mortar and) Pesto, Three Ways
July 9, 2009
Categories:
Basics, Dinner, Local Eating, Lunch, Sandwiches, Side Dishes, TASTE Archives
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This spring, I worked as an organic gardening teacher at a Houston public school. It was at once inspirational and terrifying, as most new experiences are. My sister, who has been assisting at a summer camp, recently theorized that children grow up by sucking the life out of everything around them. A haunting way to consider one' s youth, though probably true: I ended each class feeling like a wrung out rag, used and floppy, drained of all capacity.
Fortunately, we ended our experience on a happy note, which is to say, a cessation of my top-of-the-lung instruction and a belly-filling feast. Thanks to a generous supervisor at Urban Harvest, I got my hands on a traditional Mexican molcajete y tejolote—an ancient, granite mortar and pestle and some locally grown pecans. With a block of Parmesan, some homegrown basil and a touch of lemon juice and olive oil, we ground together one of the tastiest pestos I' ve had: never again will I make an herb-based sauce without pulverizing the leaves beforehand. It really does take pesto to new heights of delicious.
When I got home, I made quick use of my borrowed tool. I had to give it back at the end of the week, and, under such extreme pressure, was able to muster a tiny bit of post-gardening energy to roast some tomatoes, grind a few bunches of basil and create a few varieties of my favorite summertime sauce.
I started with a large batch of classic pesto, divided it and added roasted tomatoes to the second half. In anticipation of serving fish for dinner, I added a bit of lemon to some of the plain batch, which gave it a light citrus kick. Making these all at once turned into quite an efficient way to dress up all of my meals for the week, including a crunchy roasted broccoli salad. Second only to the super-spongy eggplant, broccoli is truly the best vehicle for sauces and marinades, given the many branches and crags of each floret. More on that to come.
Basic Pesto:
(Double recipe if you plan to make another batch using this as a base)
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
¼ c toasted pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
¾ cup finely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving
Coarse salt
Grind basil (you may have to work in batches) into a paste using a mortar and pestle.
Grind the pine nuts, garlic and salt in a food processor until pasty.
Add the basil and lemon juice and pulse a few times until incorporated. Drizzle in oil and process until smooth.
Transfer to a medium sized bowl and stir in cheese.
Lemony Pesto:
Repeat recipe, adding juice of 2 lemons and 1 Tbsp lemon zest.
Roasted Tomato Pesto:
Add 1 c roasted tomatoes to pesto mixture after adding oil, and before transferring to bowl.
i love mortar and pestles! They are life changing. I grind all sorts potions in there… spices rubs, dried chiles (very mexican), and garlicy ginger paste.
I like the pestos and i like the variations. I’m thinking of doing a green curry paste, which is in the same vein.
Additionally, those tomatoes look like they have a nice roast/crust. Nice photos too! good side light…
There is just something about the difference in taste that the molcajete y tejolote bring to the food. I should know coming from a mexican family. There is just a difference, I don’t know why, that it brings to whatever you are creating. I know i prefer my chili to be grind in one of them.
You had to give it back? Are there not many available where you live? Here, you can practically find them everywhere!