Recipe #23: improv pesto (with a big omission)

 Of course I did not invent pesto. I started my independent culinary life buying pre-made pesto to use as a sauce, a dip, a topping. I graduated to using official pesto recipes, buying and measuring and mixing ingredients to make pesto. And I evolved to finally making large batches of improv pesto. 

Improv pesto sometimes means pesto with surprises. Some surprises are better than others, as we shall see.

Ingredients:

Note: the pine nuts can be replaced with walnuts, and the fresh basil with other herbs. Cilantro or arugula make surprisingly good substitutes for some or all of the basil.

Note #2: improv pesto means not measuring anything but adding amounts as the spirit moves you. This almost always works out fine.

Note #3: I literally, as I am typing up this blog post, just noticed I forgot garlic. Garlic is a very important ingredient in pesto. This is a big omission.

Directions:

Wash and spin dry the basil (or alternate) and stuff it into the food processor (hopefully you have a food processor, otherwise you will have to go old skool and use a mortar and pestle—which is how pesto got its name!) along with a good chunk of Parmesan cheese, a bunch of pine nuts (or alternate nut), a chunk of butter, a bunch of peeled garlic cloves (absent in my photo and my pesto. I can’t believe I forgot garlic), and a few slugs of olive oil:


Whiz everything on high until well mixed:



Taste as you go and add a little more of anything lacking including salt (how the heck did I not notice the missing garlic still at this stage???):


Ask your partner to taste it and see what they think (how did he not notice the missing garlic too???).

If everyone thinks it tastes great (no garlic??? WTF???) spoon it into ice cube trays and freeze for single servings all year long:


With a little extra for dinner tonight.

When frozen, transfer the improv pesto cubes (mine are sans garlic) in a container and defrost as needed:


That leftover garlic-less excuse of a pesto was used for a dinner of pasta with chopped grilled chicken and sun dried tomatoes and NOBODY NOTICED THE MISSING GARLIC!


But this certainly takes rubbishy to a whole new level!

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