Saturday, April 12, 2014

A New Way with Pesto

I like to freeze homemade pesto in cubes. It becomes a super-fast supper in the winter when I put a frozen cube in a bowl and pour hot pasta over it.



Then I made an easy stew recipe from Martha Stewart, via Pinterest (and moved over to my Recipe Verdicts board with high praise). It was almost as fast as cooking up a pot of pasta, and very tasty and cheap.  I served it with a green salad on the side and yes, more bread.  What's soup without bread?

My basil seeds are coming up adorable.  Can't wait for a new batch of pesto!




Chickpea Stew with Pesto

Saute in olive oil in soup pot:
1 onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
salt & pepper

Stir in:
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
4 c. cooked chickpeas
6 c. stock or broth

Cook for 10-15 minutes, covered.

Add:
3 slices toasted (or stale) bread, diced (about 1 cup)

Cook 10 more minutes.  Serve with a spoonful of pesto on top of each bowl of stew.

8 comments:

  1. I freeze mine in small jars, then thaw and rub on chicken, then roast. Wonderful! Great on pasta too :) Soup, never thought of that!

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  2. I usually freeze mine in 1/2-cup portions (we loooovvve our pesto), but I like the idea of cubes for instant 1-person servings.

    Have you ever made cilantro pesto? SO good on roasted corn or any mexican dish...

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  3. Beautiful pictures and delicious recipes! I'm planting basil with my tomatoes this year - they're good company in the garden ; )

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  4. Looks yummy.. Such a great idea.

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  5. Mdiskin, what do you put in your cilantro pesto? I haven't made it before. I've made a kind of Greek slurry/pesto with fresh oregano, garlic, and olive oil. We put it on baked potatoes. Really, fresh herbs are so versatile!

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  6. We freeze a lot of basil pesto for the winter. It is super-duper to have around. But, I've never put it in stew. Sounds good to me! Some of our herbs are starting to poke up again...and we're getting excited!

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  7. We freeze a lot of basil pesto for the winter. It is super-duper to have around. But, I've never put it in stew. Sounds good to me! Some of our herbs are starting to poke up again...and we're getting excited!

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  8. I'm back! My Sunday fun is catching up on your posts. I'll be pinning this recipe but not making it for, maybe, weeks. After I've recovered from Easter dinner. I had cake and cookies and pie. Oh, gross. What was I thinking?

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