Seedy Summer Savory Pesto (with Cauliflower)

Summer savory is one of my favourite herbs of all times, as regular readers of this blog will have realized (if there are still any around). It's easy to grow, and it's delicious fresh as well as dried.

I will be yanking it all this week, as it is about to flower, and I want to get it before it does that. Most of it will be dried, but some of it went into this delicious pesto. It was lovely on cauliflower, but use it as you would any other pesto.

6 to 8 servings
20 minutes prep time

1/4 cup summer savory leaves stripped from the stems, lightly packed
1/4 cup coarsely chopped chives
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup hullless pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup cold-pressed sunflower seed oil
up to 1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 lime
2 to 4 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Strip the leaves and tender tips from the summer savory, and discard the tough stems. Pick over and trim the chives (they tend to be a little ratty at this time of year), discarding any tough blossom stems. Chop them roughly. Add the herbs to the bowl of a food processor.

Peel and trim the garlic, and slice it coarsely, and add it to the food processor along with all the remaining ingredients, except the Parmesan cheese. Process until well blended, stopping and scraping down the sides several times to make sure everything is evenly blended. Stop when the pesto has the texture you like.

The sunflower and pumpkin seeds can be raw or roasted, salted or unsalted; however, if they are salted hold off adding any more until you have had a chance to taste the pesto. The finished pesto should be a little on the salty side, since it will be seasoning some other food (I assume!) but don't get too carried away. The cheese will also add some saltiness, don't forget.

Toss the finished pesto into cooked, drained cauliflower, pasta, rice or barley, along with the cheese; in general, use it wherever you would use traditional basil pesto.




Last year at this time I made Quesadillas de Flor de Calabacitas.

Posted in: Ontario Food