Artichoke Pesto

Drinking: Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry
Listening to: Laura Viers' album 'Hello I Must Be Going'

a most perfect lunch

I am spending my first weekend of 2013 battling with a broken car (that is hopefully fixed now) and cooking away with my new immersion blender - a most excellent Christmas gift from Santa.  My resolution? To use this bad boy as much as possible over the next year! 

I am so excited to be sharing this recipe as my first recipe blog post. I made this artichoke pesto this afternoon and oh my goodness it is so good! I am already thinking of different things to top with this delicious green spread..  Today I enjoyed it with some baked crusty bread and bruschetta.  SO DELISH!  And super easy with this magical blender stick.

Cuisinart Smart Stick

My mom knows I love purple, so this Cuisinart appliance could not be more perfect.  It is so small and easy to wash which is perfect for apartment living.  I found out the hard way how sharp the blade is on it last night.. my fingertip is healing nicely with some Neosporin.










This recipe requires a big bowl and an immersion blender.  First, I blended the artichokes, parsley, lemon juice and zest, garlic cloves, candied walnuts (recipe to come, but store bought is okay here too),  salt, and pepper.  The candied walnuts were a last minute addition, and they worked perfect! The sweetness with the lemon is interesting.

green goodness

Next, I added the basil, thyme, parmesan, and olive oil.

And voila! This beautiful green spread was created...

say whaaaaaat?

While I was busy blending away, I had put some bread in the oven.  I drizzled sliced Italian loaf bread with olive oil, then sprinkled oregano and garlic powder on top and baked at 400ºF for ~15 minutes or until browned and crispy.

I topped the pesto bread with bruchetta to make for a delicious lunch, but this pesto will be making many appearances through the next week or so in probably all of my dishes.

                 

Artichoke Pesto

Makes: 2 Cups prepared

Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1 cup parsley

2 garlic cloves

10oz artichoke hearts - not marinated (I used frozen artichoke hearts, thawed)

1/2 cup candied walnuts

1/2 cup basil

3-5 sprigs thyme

1 lemon - zest of whole lemon, juice of half

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine parsley, garlic, artichokes, candied walnuts, basil, thyme, lemon zest, salt, and pepper with immersion blender.

2. Add lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and olive oil and blend until smooth.

3. Add to bread, top on pasta, add to any sandwiches or wraps, enjoy with pita chips, really anything!

*This was super easy with the immersion blender, but to use a food processor just add all ingredients except the olive oil, blended first, then slowly add the olive oil.

What do you think? Will you try it? Have you tried it? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Happy cooking,

Nat