Tuesday 10 April 2018

Pesto





I love Pestos...and frequently look for the best there are with real ingredients.....



It goes on gnocchi which I and Mr S also love...homemade preferably, in breads, on breads, and even as a filling...


Friends even brought back the most fabulous Pistachio Pesto from Sicily as a present last year.

Its no surprise that I got excited that one of our local WI members is currently running a wild garlic pesto workshop.   However because I did not go to the last meeting and had not registered my interest on time, I found out today that I have not only missed the first group but also the second group.

I have been rather in the dumps recently and a short break in Cornwall seems to have got me out of the doldrums.  I cannot thank Pat enough for taking good care of me over three days.  Here is a picture of Pat and her favoured pet Breeze on the beach.  It is just a short walk from her home to this little cove.  Of some of my home made bread, cake, marmalade etc which I took down, it was the Beetroot Chutney which Pat is going to try her hand at.



Today for supper I decided to just go completely off piste and made my own pesto, without even doing any research.  I was preparing pasta with a mushroom and pheasant sauce.  This sounds rather extravagant but to be honest it was a 'breeze'.  My cousin Pat was going to cook up some Venison but the local farm shop had run out and suggested a pair of dressed pheasants instead.  When Pat got out her cash to pay a second pair was put on the counter...It was buy one, or rather a brace of pheasants, which is a pair, get another pair free.  All four birds went into the oven...and we came home with a whole cooked bird.  Yesterday we had a meal with most of the meat which I had made into a 'fricassee' on the hob.  There was really enough for three good helpings, so I kept one back.  It was that portion which I then made into a sauce with saute mushrooms, onions, herbs and my ubiquitous Calvados.

The pesto which I dressed the pasta with, before topping with the pheasant concoction, was made up as follows:

a handful of roasted walnuts
the dregs of the lovely olive oil from Greek Olives in a tin, another present from a dancing friend
all the leaves of my windowsill basil plant which had reached the peak of perfection
some Cave aged goats's cheese from Wookey

It was really a use up....but absolutely delicious.  Except for exceptional pestos such as the pistachio one..in future I shall be exploring the world of Pestos through experiment in my kitchen.

I came across a really splendid blog just by chance and there are also tips from Paola Bacchia on gnocchi as well as Pestos.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds absolutely delicious, your descriptions made my mouth water and it is the kind of thing that I would do, small leftovers can make the tastiest of treats. I am in love with Breeze, what a fabulous name, I can see the breeze ruffling her/his fur. Hasn't winter gone on for so long, we are stuck at home waiting to go up to the allotment to prick out seedlings, its been raining almost constantly, it must have been lovely to be in Cornwall.

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    1. I've been wondering whether you have been champing at the bit waiting to get on your allotment...it's the same here with the garden. Breeze is a bitch and very pretty and Pat puts a lot of work in the grooming.

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  2. If you ever open a cafe Noelle I will be first in the queue!

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