Pesto Rosso & Pesto Verde- It's All In The Family

Pesto comes in many variations, colors and flavors, is always delightful and is the perfect summer dish.
It is easy to prepare and can be made up to 3-4 days in advance- the ideal sauce to jazz up your summer party.
Pesto verde -this traditional cream sauce comes originally from Genova and is often called Pesto Alla Genovese.

 

I love everything about it:
The color, the fresh herbs that are used in the preparation, the wonderful aroma and last not least it's versatility.
According to my Italian friends pesto tastes much better when crushed with a  pestle in a  marble mortar and I think they are quite right.
Unfortunately I do not own a marble mortar and so I had to restrict myself to a boring food processor but the pesto turned out delicious, despite of this little detail.
One of the things that fascinates me about pesto is it's multiple use.
 Just rely on your creativity, use the ingredients you have at hand and I promise you won't be disappointed.
Here are some of the many ways to create delightful dishes with this marvellous sauce.
-Pesto tomatoe crostini
-Pesto spring salad (top all kind of seasonal veggies with a Pesto dressing, then sprinkle with shaved Parmesan)
-Cream cheese Pesto linguini (Cook linguini al dente, mix pesto with soft cream cheese and mix pasta with the Pesto-cheese mixture)
-Pesto butter (mix Pesto with soft butter, tastes wonderful on grilled steak

It's sister, Pesto Rosso or Pesto alla Siciliana tastes fantastic as well and is made with sun dried tomatoes for extra flavor and texture.

You can use it as
-A delicious dip
-Pizza al Pesto Rosso with addition of fresh tomatoes, feta cheese and rucola
-Spaghetti and prawns al Pesto Rosso
- Chicken or fish gratinated with Parmesan cheese and Pesto Rosso
Please take note that for Pesto there is no need for exact quantities. Just trust your sense of taste  and play around a bit with the quantities of  the ingredients.
For the Pesto Verde you need :

1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of slightly toasted pine nuts or almonds
1/3 cup of good quality Extra Virgin olive oil
1/4 freshly, finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves, previously blanched for 1 minute in simmering water
1/2 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice(optional)
Salt and pepper
Method :
Place  all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until obtaining a creamy but not to smooth consistence. If necessary add a bit more olive.  With machine running add the oil in a steady stream.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately or keep in an air tight container and drizzle some extra oil over the top.

Garnish with Basil leaves and toasted pine nuts.
Makes 1to 1/4 cup of pesto.

For the Pesto Rosso you need:

1 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
1 1/2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup Pine nuts, slightly roasted
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup fresh Basil leaves
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt*, freshly ground black pepper
*Add very little salt as the sun dried tomatoes are usually quite salty
Method:
Basically the same as for Pesto Verde.
Place  all ingredients in a food processor and pulse obtaining a creamy but not to smooth consistence. If necessary add a bit more olive oil.With machine running add the oil in a steady stream.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately or keep in an air tight container and drizzle some extra oil over the top.

Garnish with Basil leaves and toasted pine nuts.
Makes 1to 1/4 cup of pesto.

Enjoy! see you next week.

 

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Decadent Chocolate-Merengue Semifreddo With Caramelized Orangesauce

Dear all,
thank you so much my friends for your patience and support during the time my blog was "under construction" for a much needed facelift and solving some technical problems. You rock!
A special note to Amelia@ameliasdessert for offering me her support when my blog got, as she put it "the hick ups" and made it difficult for visitors to comment. Merci, Amelia :)
I was definitely missing blogging much more than I ever imagined.
Have I become addicted?
Addicted for sure to the interaction with my friends, readers and fellow bloggers..
Addicted to the Adrenalin rush when time is short and you need to publish your next post.
Addicted to read the new posts my fellow bloggers wrote meantime.
Anyhow, this is probably one of the most harmless addictions and I'm sure every blogger knows what I'm talking about..
During the time I was updating my blog, I was facing a true construction site and there were days when I thought this is never going to finish.
I should have known...many of you warned me that this is going to take time and patience.
We are nearly ready ( there are always small things to adjust) and if you have any suggestions, I would appreciate your comments very much.
Now it's time to celebrate the new season and I would like to share with you one of our favorites for this time of the year.
This rich, melt in your mouth semifreddo is a great treat for guests or to enjoy with your family during spring and summer days.
You need:
 225 g of 70% dark chocolate
180 g soft, non salted butter
7 egg yolks
112g dark, non sweetened cocoa
225g icing sugar
370g heavy cream
3 cups Meringue crumbs
For the orange sauce:
2 oranges
The zest of one orange
1 spoonful of butter
3 spoonful caster sugar
2 spoonful of Cointreau  (optional, can be replaced by freshly squeezed orange juice)

Instructions:
Whip egg yolks together with the icing sugar and soft butter until creamy and light in color.

Then fold in the cocoa, first with a rubber spatula ( to avoid the Cocoa dust) , then whip well until creamy.

Apart, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Take care that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
Beat in the melted chocolate in the mixture.

Apart, whip heavy cream to soft peaks.

Fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly.

Pour mixture carefully into a loaf pan, the first layer chocolate mixture, the next meringue crumbs.

Continue to alternate the different layers until the mold is filled.
Cover with plastic foil and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Orange sauce
2 oranges
The zest of one orange
1 spoonful of butter
3 spoonful caster sugar
2 spoonful of Cointreau  (optional, can be replaced by freshly squeezed orange juice)

Instructions:
Zest the orange.

Cut off the top and the bottom of the other orange, then slice off the peel with a sharp knife. Make sure to remove all the white bits.
Then cut the individual slices of the orange along their thin skin.

Melt butter in a large, flat pan, add sugar and let cook at low heat for about 2 minutes or until sugar has dissolved and the mixture has slightly caramelized.

Add the Cointreau, Orange zest and fillets and simmer for 1 minute.
Then, remove from heat. Set apart.

To serve, remove the parfait from the freezer.

Place in a deep baking sheet filled with hot water (or place a hot, wet kitchen towel over the mold) until the outside of the parfait has softened.
Then place a serving plate upside down on top of the mold until the parfait slips out.

Remove the mold.

With a sharp knife , cut in slices (Rinse the knife with cold water from time to time to avoid that the parfait sticks to the knife).

Garnish with warm orange  sauce, zests, fillet and mint leaves.

Serve immediately.



Enjoy, see you next week.

Serves 8-10 p.

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Mushroom Capuccino Soup

Mushroom Capuccino Soup 

If you want to surprise your guest, this delicious soup will do the trick.

I saw the mushroom cream soup in this presentation for the first time in a restaurant in Vienna, it's maybe because Viennese love their coffee so much that they prefer even other dishes looking like coffee!

Trying it convinced me, it’s a great treat! 

For the Mushroom Capuccino soup you need:

300g Mushrooms

1 medium onion

1 spoonful of butter

1 spoonful of Olive oil

1 spoonful of flour

5 cups of chicken broth

1 spoonful of chopped parsley

2 cups of light cream (reserve 1 cup for decoration)

Salt,pepper

1 spoonful nutmeg

Preparation:

Wash the mushrooms carefully and divide into four or smaller,according to the size of the mushrooms.

Chop the onion.

Melt the butter together with the Olive oil, then add the onions and sauté slightly until translucent , then add the mushroom and sauté until everything is tender.

Add the parsley and cook for 2 more minutes until the flavors are blending into each other.

Salt and pepper then add the flour through a colander and stir well until the flour is absorbed.

 Stir frequently until the flour is absorbed

Add the chicken broth stirring frequently until thickened.

In blender or food processor purée the mixture until smooth.

Whip the cream with a tiny bit of salt until soft peaks are formed, top the hot soup with it and sprinkle with nutmeg.   

Note: This recipe works also very well using foamed milk instead of the whipped cream.

Serves 4-6

Enjoy!

Note:

For the ones of you that have read my previous post, I just want to assure you that cooking is a real stress reducing therapy!

Have a look at the picture below of the disaster area in our home during unpacking. :)

So I went into exile in my kitchen for a while to prepare today's recipe and hectic was gone and calm was restored. Now I have only about 60 more boxes to unpack!

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