Warning! At the end of this post, you might be tempted to turn on the stove and make some of this mighty foodstuff yourself. If it's midnight, I suggest you wait until tomorrow afternoon, at least, before attempting to read this.
It is a misfortune to have had this awesome burst of flavour flying under our radar for most of our lives. By "we", I mean my family and I. Why were we never graced with its pungency, its vibrant colour, its ability to pack a punch on occasion? All I can say is "thank you!" to the universe for bringing this to our table. 'Tis cilantro pesto, baby, and I shall show you how to offer this to all those that grace your kitchen with their presence.
1 bunch fresh cilantro
5-6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup almonds or pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
2 tsp black pepper
rice pasta
2 cans un-marinated artichoke hearts
-cook rice pasta as per package instructions
-put all other ingredients (except for the artichokes) in a food processor and liquefy
-drain and wash down the artichoke hearts, then squish them to get rid of as much of the can's liquid residue
-put cooked pasta in a wok, and at medium heat, fold in the pesto and artichokes
-mix well for about 5 minutes or so
-eat and discover the power of pesto!
Heh heh! Alright...maybe I'm just a little bit too enthusiastic about pesto, but seriously...the different flavours that come out in this dish just blow my mind :DI also added a little bit of leftover barbecued chicken from the fridge. Yum.
Some like to add cheese to their pesto, and I think the original recipe that I looked at had cheese in it, but I wanted to see how it would taste without cheese. The loss of cheese, in my opinion, is not the loss of flavour. In fact, I think pesto tastes better without the cheese, because sometimes the cheese masks all the different subtle, and not so subtle, flavours of the cilantro, the cayenne pepper, the nuts.
In some recipes, I've seen the addition of lemon. Next time, I'll try it with lemon to see how it adds or detracts from the flavour palette.
Anyway, just try it. You just might feel like having a pesto pasta day yourself :D
