There was no way I could walk past the beautiful bags of basil leaves being sold from the back of the truck without adding a bag to my basket. Basil just makes me think of pesto, and pesto is such a versatile ingredient to keep in the fridge. A spoonful through some pasta, smeared over a pizza base or added to a piece of barbecued chicken, it just seems to add a bit of yumminess.
While the outside temperature soared towards 42 degrees (107 F) I locked myself away in the kitchen.
With leaves rinsed, I was ready to get started on the Basil Pesto.
A huge thank you to Stupendous Joy for my gorgeous tea towel. It's too beautiful to use for dishes.
A quick whizz in the food processor and my work was done.
I wasn't able to find any pine nut, only pine nuts mixed with almonds but these worked wonderfully. There is now one container in the fridge and one in the freezer.
With a fresh batch of yoghurt in the fridge, a little more inspiration struck. A bunch of chives was picked from the garden and garlic clove of two crushed into the mix before it was poured into some muslin and suspended, all in the name of labna.
After a quick recipe search, I was ready for another dip: tzatziki. The combination of tanginess from the yoghurt, cucumber and lemon is so refreshing at the moment.
As the afternoon cooled down, there was a need to make something to dip into these.
I found a lovely looking recipe in the Veg Everyday book and thought that flatbreads would work well. Rather than throw out the whey from the labna, this was added to the bread dough as the water component. Some water still needed to be added as there wasn't enough whey.
I'm now off to make some more yoghurt as the jars are looking a little low.
What's happening in your kitchen?
Take care
I love your pesto!!!! I think many things work as pesto, I am sure that it was Jamie Oliver who made a coriander and cashew nut pesto. So I am sure almonds will work just fine!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is warm over here in Central Victoria, but we got our bread baking for the week done last night. Walnut and rye rolls are now sitting frozen in the freezer for the up and coming week. Tonight we will defrost a pizza base and dress it up with leftover zucchini and pesto spaghetti sauce from a previous cooking session and chilli garlic zucchini.
I love quick, easy and sometimes pre-prepared.
Also your flatbreads sound delish!!!!!
Daffodil, coriander and cashew sounds wonderful. I might need to have a look at that one too.
DeleteYou certainly sound like you have been busy with baking. Those walnut an rye rolls sound amazing. I also love an easy dinner where you can just pull out bits that have been put in the freezer. Your pizzas sound like a perfect Sunday night dinner.
Thanks for saying hello. : )
Hi Bruise Mouse - I am back to the land of blogs - not writing as yet but catching up on some reading. Needed some inspiration and this little post has done it for me. Cheers, Wendy
ReplyDeleteWendy, glad you dropped by. I am looking forward to reading all about the hotel as soon as you get a chance.
DeleteGlad you feel inspired.
Take care : )
Basil is summer isn't. My fridge is a happy one when there is a jar full of almond pesto residing in there. It pumps a bland dish rather well!
ReplyDeleteI love it. And some on a cracker is a great little afternoon snack too. Yum.
DeleteWow, such productivity in your kitchen. I'm impressed. Dips, what a perfect idea. I started drying all of my herbs to make teas today.
ReplyDeletePS. Glad you like the tea towel. I forgot to keep one for myself so it's lovely to see them in other peoples kitchens. Enjoy.
Dips are such a great afternoon snack. We usually eat them with vege sticks so it is all pretty good.
DeleteI love the tea towel. Thanks so much. I can't believe you don't have one. What a shame.