WHB #52: Rosemary Pesto
October 1st, 2006 by Scott |
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This article is part of a larger event, “My Favourite Herb“, hosted by Kalyn’s Kitchen (as a part of the Weekend Herb Blogging series of events). The idea this time around is for me to create a post about my favorite herb with reasons for why, and then display my “best” recipe for it. As Kalyn says, the recipe must be the “best of the best”. That’s a lot of pressure!
I have selected Rosemary as my herb of choice. There’s something amazing about this hardy evergreen shrub. It is very easy to grow, and is the first one I started with, around 10 years ago. The same plant is still alive in my garden today, having been transplanted from pot to ground. One sprig of this is enough to transform lamb in water into a stew with a delicious pine scented sauce.
How on Earth can I create the “best” recipe for this herb? Well, to justify my choice, it had to be one which showcased the herb itself – simply creating a lamb recipe with the Rosemary hidden within is not enough. I’ve chosen a Pesto made with Rosemary, as it allows the flavour of the Rosemary to take centre stage above all else, in a simple and uncomplicated way.
Traditionally a Pesto is created with Basil, Garlic, Pine Nuts, Parmesan and Olive Oil. I’ve tried to keep this recipe as close to that original one as I can, however didn’t feel Basil was appropriate – it just wouldn’t work with the Rosemary. Since Rosemary is a very woody herb, it still needed a leafy companion to make this Pesto work. After a little deliberation, I chose Rosemary’s cousin Mint, which works in harmony without overshadowing it’s companion. Mint and Rosemary are both well known as accompaniments to Lamb, and work well together.
I hope you agree with me that this is a simple yet elegant sauce, which highlights the flavours of Rosemary. It is delicious served alongside Lamb in almost any form.
Rosemary Pesto Recipe – Ingredients
- 30g (1 oz) Chopped Rosemary Leaves
- 1 Handful Mint Leaves
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 40ml (1.35 fl. oz) Olive Oil
- 3 tbsp Pine Nuts (or Walnuts, which are cheaper)
- 50g (1.75 oz) Grated Parmesan Cheese
Rosemary Pesto Recipe – Method
- Start a food processor on a medium speed. Add the nuts and the garlic and process until finely chopped.
- Add Mint, Rosemary, and Parmesan to the mixture. Blitz together until roughly combined.
- Trickle olive oil into the mixture while still processing, scraping the sides to allow all to be combined. Stop when smooth but not pureed.
And to serve…
Place alongside simply grilled lamb cutlets, or on top of grilled bread. Enjoy!
Filed under: Soups & Sauces.
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Mmmmm. I love the sound of this. Very inventive. I can imagine this would be just wonderful with lamb, which is absolutely my favorite red meat.
By the way, the color you have now on the side of your blog is not only one of my very favorite colors, but almost exactly the color of my office/kitchen. Mine is just a tiny bit more grayed, but I’m looking at the computer monitor and the wall behind it and it’s a match! (And if anyone is dying at the thought of a kitchen with walls that color, the kitchen is about 90% oak cabinets with just a bit of wall showing here and there and white counter tops. So it’s mostly white and wood, with bright blue accents. Can you tell I love my kitchen?)
Interesting. Sounds good, though I would have to go with chicken since my husband wont eat lamb
This sounds so good! What a great idea! I will definitely try it. I’m working on a sweet mint pesto but maybe some rosemary would add an intersting dimension to it….
First of all, YAY on the pumpkin soup in the previous post. I just got back from a weekend of hiking and decided to put together a pumpkin soup this morning. Now look what I find here! Like you had mentioned, pumpkin IS so underused!
This pesto sounds quite interesting and I think I’ll apply it to some focaccia next time the baking mood hits me. I can already imagine the aroma.
Sounds interesting – and I really like the top photo!
Kalyn: Sounds like you have a beautiful kitchen!
peabody: It works perfectly well with chicken too – in fact most pesto will…
ilva: A sweet mint pesto sounds interesting too – I might try it
rowena: I like focaccia – so very easy to bake, and somehow more appealing then most home made breads
Pille: Thanks – it’s one of my favourite “own” photos too!
[...] (and Rosemary) Pesto. This alternative Pesto recipe great served with fresh lamb, and was my entry back in WHB [...]
I just finished up my own version of rosemary pesto. I have really become free with proportions and creations after raising herbs for the last 33 years. Today I combined about 6 cups of parsley (since that is what I had a lot of this year) 1 1/2 cups of rosemary and 6 cloves of garlic (also from our garden), olive oil ? I just dump into the food processor until I like the consistency. I froze this and later when thawed, I plan on using maybe with asiago cheese and chopped walnuts on vegetables or pork roast tenderloins. I have tried a version of this while roasting potatoes and it is delicious!
It does sound great, and a fantastic way of using up garden herbs. Using it on pork sounds delicious.