Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tasty Tuesday - Mexican Pesto

 I had a grundle of cilantro as in two bunches so I needed to do something that would use large quantities at one time. So I poked around the internet and found some recipes, but I didn't have all the ingredients listed so I improvised. Listed below will be the full recipe with possible changes. For now, lets start with 4 cups of cilantro leaves....
 and 1/2 a cup EVOO as Rachel Ray says, or (extra virgin olive oil) for those in Imbler.....
 Put this in a blender with 4 cloves of garlic, or the equivalent of garlic powder...
 add 1/4 cup Asiago or Cojita cheese (which would be more authentic but go with what you have)
 two Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce....
 1/2 teaspoon salt....
 1 tablespoon of dry oregano, or 1/4 cup fresh if you have it...
 Pulse in the blender.....
 add 2 cups of cilantro and pulse some more.....
 add the rest of the cilantro plus 1/4 cup toasted almonds, or pine nuts and pulse some more...
until it looks like this! I haven't decided what to do with it yet as I had to make it and then make my weekly trip in to stay and help out the in-laws, but I'm thinking that maybe this could be spread on tortillas or mixed with cream cheese or sour cream, used on top of grilled fish or chicken. I will test run this when I get home and let you know my favorites. Let me know if you try this and see what you like to do with it. 
MEXICAN PESTO
4 cups cilantro leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Asiago or cojita cheese
4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dry oregano or 1/4 cup fresh
2 chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
1/4 cup roasted pine nuts or toasted almonds

In a blender pulse together the oil, cheese, garlic, salt, oregano, and Chipotles. Add 2 cups of cilantro and pulse some more, then add the rest of the leaves and the nuts and pulse until a nice consistency. Makes about 1 cup total. Enjoy!
As a side note, we tried this on fish tacos the other night and hubby loved it! Just spread on tortillas before adding other toppings. Soooooo good. :-)

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