Homemade Pesto and Focaccia
August 2, 2010 by Marci
I love taking what summer offers and going with it. Whether it’s taking a bike ride with the kids on a warm summer evening, enjoying an impromptu cook out with the neighbors or figuring out what to do with the latest garden harvest. Last week, I was blessed with a bumper crop of basil and some fresh garlic from our local CSA. Just perfect for one of our summer favorites – homemade pesto!
I used to think that pesto was some exotic, difficult concoction that was way beyond my skills. Truth is – it’s easy….and fast! Just throw basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan and/or romano cheese and pine nuts in the food processor and blend it up!
We love pesto on pasta or on bruchetta or as a dip for bread. I really love it on the focaccia from a local bakery, but I didn’t want to leave the house. So, I decided to make my own focaccia bread for the first time! I based my bread off of this recipe. I just used milk instead of water after doing some research about authentic focaccia. Frankly, I chose this recipe because it looked the easiest. It was definitely easy and it tasted great! I served it warm with pesto for a dip. It tasted incredible!
I tried to get a picture of the whole loaf, but before I could get my camera someone beat me to it. Homemade pesto and focaccia. What an easy summer treat!
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My pesto recipe is more like a go-by-feel kind of thing, but I think this is pretty much how I make it. It keeps in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. What I don’t use right away, I freeze in ice cube trays and then put the pesto cubes in a freezer bag.
Basil – 2 or 3 cups
Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves (depending on your love for garlic. feel free to add more)
Pine nuts – 1/4 -1/3 cup
Parmesean and/or romano cheese – 1/3 – 1/2 cup
Olive oil – start with 1/4 cup and add as the pesto blends until it is the consistency you like
Comments (4)
Ahhh, I can just smell your focaccia through the computer! I have to try this flat bread recipe I found in the magazine Living Without….I was lead to believe it is like a gluten-free version o focaccia. Or, at least my fingers are crossed.
Don’t you just love summer!
I have to try the foccacia bread. Did you know that you can use almost any herb for pesto: dill/almond, arugula/walnut, Mint/pine nut?
I remember I was happy surprised the first time I made pesto and found it was easy enough for a novice cook like me to make well. The bread looks so yummy!
[...] Monday, I shared my easy pesto and focaccia bread recipes, but no weekly meal plan. I thought that I had enough food in the fridge and pantry that I [...]