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:

Unknown said...

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

MDiskin said...

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...

Unknown said...

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

Anonymous said...

Looks yummy.. Such a great idea.

Margo said...

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!

BLD in MT said...

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!

BLD in MT said...

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!

Rebecca said...

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?