(no subject)

[coraa]

I was going to post a dinner poll, and then I decided that I knew what I was going to make: pesto.

I'm going to make a giant batch of pesto (I have a ton of fresh basil, plus some other nice tasty greens), using blanched almonds instead of pine nuts (because I'm cheap) and a nice-ish olive oil.

About half a cup of that will go towards dinner tonight -- I'll grill some chicken (probably while basting it with pesto when it's almost done), then make pizza with pesto dressing, fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, and the chicken. (I have frozen pizza dough in the chest freezer from the last time I made pizza.) I think I might experiment with cooking the pizza on the grill (I mean, on a cast-iron pan on the grill, not straight on the grates, as that would be Asking For Disaster), because the grill can maintain even higher heat than the oven. Served with a green salad, probably.

The rest of the pesto, I'll freeze. Pesto freezes very nicely.

Pictures and recipe later, if it turns out well! (If it fails spectacularly, I will recount my tribulations instead. ;) )

Comments

[aquaeri]

I make my pesto with raw cashews, because I think pine nuts go off too easily, and almonds are a bit too hard. And we pretty much always have raw cashews in the house. If you wanted to go luxe, raw macadamias would work well.

[maggiedacatt.livejournal.com]

You can get grill-safe pizza stones, or just use a terra cotta tile.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I keep meaning to get a pizza stone/terra cotta tile, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The bottom of an inverted cast-iron pan works in a pinch, though.

[dancambull.livejournal.com]

Grilled pizza is great (straight on the grates) but it is a much crispier thing than a fluffy "typical" pizza. I wish I had basil enough to make pesto and freeze it.

[rowr.livejournal.com]

yeah.. what's up with pine nuts being so darn expensive.. I heard you can also use walnuts for pesto instead..