Good Morning Connecticut with Laura & Jocelyn Making Pesto

Today I had the pleasure of cooking on the “Good Morning Connecticut” show with Laura Hutchinson and Jocelyn Maminta. Showing them just how easy it was to make my gourmet pesto was exciting because it’s hard to believe something that tastes so delicious can be done in mere minutes.

Making a batch of homemade pesto goes so much further then you think. First of all, it can be frozen easily for future  dishes. Second, one batch can make numerous dishes. For example, it’s enough pesto for a pasta dish and a pesto butter log. The pesto butter log is really nice because you can cut off slices from the frozen log any time you need them topping grilled steaks, chicken breasts, or even pork chops oozing the melting basil, garlic and cheese all over creating a whole new level of yum!

The ease of being able to use a food processor to make my homemade gourmet pesto is a wonderful thing!  The pesto tastes the same and you still put all the love into it using good ingredients.  You can play with this recipe also when it comes to amounts like adding a little more Parmesan if it’s too thin or drizzling in a tad more olive oil if it’s too thick.  Making pesto is a very forgiving process…. just trust yourself and be sure to taste as you go along to see if you need to add a sprinkle more of salt and or pepper.

You may want to check out some desserts to go with your pesto dinner like my Saltine Christmas Bark with crushed candy cane, Death by Chocolate Meringue Pie, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies,  Chocolate Crackle Cookies or Crazy Good Candies Pecans.

 Ingredients for Pesto:

• 3 packed cups, 1 extra large pkg. or 2 medium pkgs. of fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan
• 1 lg. garlic clove put thru garlic press
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper
• dash of Siracha

Directions for Pesto: 

1. Take the basil leaves off of the stems and place them into the food processor with the pressed garlic.
2. Begin to pulse while drizzling in all of the olive oil thru the top opening of the food processor.
3. Once you finish adding the oil you may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula if you see large pieces of basil leaves.
4. Pulse once more, then add the parmesan.
5. Pulse a couple more times to blend, taste and add salt and pepper and tabasco if you want a little kick to it.
6. Pulse once more to combine.
7. The pesto is ready to use.
8. Serve on PASTA and sautéed or grilled shrimp, fish, chicken, pork or steak!…mmm!
9. If you want to save the pesto put it into a plastic container and drizzle about 1 Tbsp of olive oil right on top, lay a piece of Saran wrap right on top of the new layer of olive oil so there isn’t any air touching (This will keep the basil from oxidizing and turning brown).
10. At this point you can either keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or put it into the freezer.
11. When you are ready to use the frozen pesto take it out the night before and let it thaw in the refrigerator.
12. Now that you have this delicious pesto you can easily make the Crostinis with Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto and Roasted Tomato appetizer.

Ingredients for Roasted Tomatoes:

• 1 lb. grape or cherry tomatoes
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• s&p to taste

Directions for Roasted Tomatoes:

1. Slice tomatoes in half, drizzle on olive oil and S&P and roast in a 400º oven for 15-20 minutes,
2. Be sure to check the grape tomatoes at 10 minutes so as to not over cook them…everyones oven cooks a little differently.