Sauces Side Dishes

Pesto To The Rescue!

Are you looking for some added flavor to your meals?  Pesto to the rescue!

Pesto is a sauce originally from Italy where a little goes a long way.  It can be made from scratch pretty easily or it’s sold in your grocery aisle.

Mix pesto in;

  • Leftover Pasta
  • Spaghetti sauce (I recently did this because I didn’t have basil, super flavor)
  • Pasta Salad

Top pesto on;

  • Garlic bread
  • Grilled seafood
  • Sautéed chicken

Serve pesto in;

  • Pan toasted quesadillas with chopped tomatoes and mozzarella…
  • Chicken-slice in half and fill with pesto before cooking
  • Grape tomatoes hollowed out

Serve pesto as a dip with;

  • Veggies, great for dipping
  • Bread sticks
  • Grape tomatoes & cheese tortellini

My pesto recipe came up out of necessity when I didn’t have any pine nuts and didn’t want to spend the money on them but I wanted pesto.  So I used cashew pieces and wow-wow a whole depth of flavor was added!  Delicious and a cost savings!

Cashew Basil Pesto

5 cups fresh basil, large stems removed

1 cup cashew pieces

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.5 cups olive oil

2 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp garlic powder

1. Blend well in a food processor.

Tip; this makes a lot and a little goes a long way…it freezes really well in small containers or even in ice cube trays for a little pop of flavor.