Parsley Pesto

I've been homebound for the past few days after undergoing outpatient surgery, so I was looking for something quick and easy to ease me back into the kitchen.  "Quick and easy" meant I was looking for 2 things: 1) I could put everything into one "pot," and 2) I could find all the ingredients in my house.

So I surveyed my fridge and cupboards, coming up with an abundance of leftover parsley from the Smoky Fish Pie which still looked fresh, along with various types of cheese.  Then I searched the cabinets, noticing a bag of pine nuts that I like to keep stashed for occasions just like these.  My brain started working... I knew I had a jar of minced garlic (a staple in my fridge) and some EVOO (yes, i'm really using a Rachael Ray term), so this was looking more and more like a pesto.

Except... parsley?  I've never been a huge fan of parsley because I gravitate towards the more aromatic herbs like basil and cilantro, both of which make great pesto.  I wasn't so sure about parsley.  I wasn't even sure what parsley really tasted like.  But, since I was set on making pesto now and didn't seem to have any other options, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to showcase parsley once in awhile.

I didn't really do anything special here... I started out with a basic basil pesto recipe and swapped basil with parsley.  (Yup, that's really all).  And since I actually had several kinds of cheese to choose from, I half and half'd parmigiano reggiano (doesn't that sound so classy?) and pecorino romano to total half a cup.

The following recipe was adapted from Elise who posted at simplyrecipes.com

(http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/).

Parsley Pesto

Prep time: 10 minutes

Yields: 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh parsley leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

1) Combine the parsley in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor.  Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2) Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on.   Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.   Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended.   Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

I did this one in the blender since I was too lazy to get my food processor out, which is why you see me adding the oil without the lid on.  It's risky business though -- I would suggest using a food processor with the handy opening at the top so you don't need to shield yourself from your blender.

3) Serve.

I like mixing my pesto with pasta, and since we were having fish tonight, it made a cheerful side dish -- what a lovely green!

I have to say that it tasted better than I thought it would... but then again, probably anything mixed with cheese and garlic and nuts will probably always turn out good.  I still prefer basil pesto, but I was happy with the result.

Until the next adventure...