Pesto Yum

My friend, Cindy, recently gave me a whole quart of homemade pesto that is absolutely DELICIOUS! 
I've been finding all kinds of ways to incorporate it into our meals....now that I've had a taste of this stuff I really want to plant basil this year, just so I can make some of my own!  

Here is a great lunch idea Cindy gave me...it's a good way to use the pesto.   You can either use canned chicken or your own leftover cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from Walmart), chop it up and mix with some leeks or scallions, a few tablespoons of mayonaisse and mustard...and a little bit of pesto (no exact measurements here).    Then get some canned biscuit or crescent rolls...if you use crescent rolls, they are already flattened and you can just put a spoonful of the mixture into it, and seal it on the ends... if you use the canned biscuits, flatten them and stuff with mixture, and seal together at ends.   I used the biscuits this time.    Bake until it's lightly browned on the top, then microwave a little bit of pesto to spread over the stuffed biscuits.  It's delicious...and quick!  



The other day, I used the pesto with pasta... I just cooked some spinach, and pasta, mixed them together with butter and pesto, salt and pepper.   It was great!   The kids asked for seconds and thirds.



And last night for dinner, I cooked us a pesto pizza, which was just so good. I was trying to make something similar to the Kosmic Kharma pizza they serve at Mello Mushroom- this ended up not tasting much like it, but my husband said he thought it tasted better!

I used Tammy's pizza crust recipe for the crust... and substituted molasses for the sugar...then I spread on a layer of pesto, a layer of spinach, a layer of feta cheese (seasoned with basil and tomato), a layer of mozzarella, and a layer of sliced tomatoes.




Here it is finished, with the cheese all bubbly hot and yummy!



If you have any recipes using Pesto, please feel free to share them.  I hope this has given you some ideas!

 

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Comments

  • 4/3/2009 3:59 PM lauren wrote:
    I love pesto too! I really need to get back into the swing of cooking. We've been eating out way too much. I think I just might try some pesto to spice things up. Thanks, Bethany!
    Reply to this
  • 4/3/2009 5:03 PM Stefani wrote:
    Mmm, Yum! That looks delicious. I have spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese... guess what I'm making pizza tonight! Thansk for the idea for dinner.
    Reply to this
  • 4/3/2009 6:36 PM Mrs. Paradis wrote:
    On burgers,make grilled sandwiches(like Panini's,we use all veggies)and put some on that so yummy!
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  • 4/4/2009 7:19 AM Everybody's Mama wrote:
    That sounds too yummy!I have seen pesto in the grocery store and I also grow my own basil. I wasn't really sure how to use pesto as I knew it had a rather strong flavor. But that sounds good so I think I will give it a try. Thanks!
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  • 4/4/2009 9:42 AM Linda wrote:
    We are still on our 1st jar of pesto, and we both love it. I saw that Panera Bread used it on a sandwich, but I don't remember any of the other ingredients.

    We love to mix some with cream of chicken soup, milk, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese and put it over pasta! We then top it with grilled chicken strips! Delicious! I don't think I have a recipe though. You might google Chicken Pesto Pasta, if you want an actual recipe.
    Reply to this
  • 4/5/2009 9:59 AM Diane wrote:
    Do you have the recipe for the pesto, could you share it?? Your ideas look yummy!
    Reply to this
    1. 4/5/2009 1:37 PM Bethany wrote:
      Diane, I don't have this particular recipe, but here is a basic pesto recipe that I think is probably similar! Hope it works for you!

      http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001329fresh_basil_pesto.php
      Reply to this
  • 4/5/2009 5:50 PM Alison wrote:
    We make pesto all the time without exact measurments and it's always yummy. Just grab several handfuls of basil from the garden, toss into the food processor with some pine nuts(walnuts are fine), and parmesan. Pulse intil it begins to form a paste. Then, add olive oil until the pesto comes together and becomes the desired thickness. We spread it on grilled cheese, pizza, toss with pasta-- the possibilities are endless. Freezing is our prefered method of preservation.
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  • 4/5/2009 8:37 PM MJ wrote:
    Maybe try another version of pesto pizza. I remember years ago, Domino's did this pesto crust pizza, where they actually mixed the pesto into the crust then used regular tomato sauce on it. It was pretty good
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  • 4/7/2009 10:42 AM Courtney wrote:
    i love pesto and i think they look great. I love how versatile they are and easy to freeze up in little ice cube trays. I actually plan on making some today!
    Reply to this
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