Vegetables With a Twist of Basil Pesto

Basil pesto is the most famous pesto worldwide and was invented in the Liguria region in Northern Italy. The original recipe calls for basil, garlic, Parmiggiano Reggiano , pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil. There are a variety of ways to make pesto using other ingredients, some substitute pine nuts with walnuts, others leave out the parmiggiano reggiano and then there is the famous Sicilian pistacchio pesto. Basically any food that can be pressed can turn into a fabulous pesto; never forget the extra virgin olive oil which helps all the ingredients blend together.


The name pesto meaning "pestare" -  to press. All ingredients are combined together to create this amazing "dressing". Pesto is commonly used to dress pasta, though pesto goes a long way; therefore it can be put to use in many ways such as condiment to salads, to meats and many vegetables.

When pesto meets certain vegetables, it creates magic. A little drizzle here and a little drizzle there is sure to bring originality to your vegetable dish. We've compiled a list of  our favorite vegetables which compliment well with pesto.

Tomatoes  

Though tomatoes aren't considered a vegetable rather considered a fruit, it's commonly served as a vegetable,  therefore we find it  appropriate to include it on our  list.
Slice tomatoes and drizzle some pesto on top,  it makes a simple easy and colorful side dish especially in the Summer. During the Fall - Winter Season, slice tomatoes, place tomatoes in a baking pan, take a teaspoon of pesto for each tomato and spread  the pesto on the tomato then top the tomato with bread crumbs. When done, place the baking pan  in a heated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or till topping is brown. Remove from oven and serve.

Asparagus

Blanche a bunch of asparagus, shock them in cold water, drain and place them on a baking pan, then drizzle some pesto on top of the asparagus and place in a heated  oven at 350 degree and bake for about 10-15 minutes. If you prefer, after you drizzled some pesto on top of the asparagus you can also grate some parmiggiano and then place the asparagus in the oven and bake for about 10- 15 minutes.Either way this makes a wonderful and delicious side dish to meat or chicken. Accompanies well with a bottle of Chianti or if you prefer  white then ideal would be a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Eggplants 

Slice and grill eggplants, after they have cooled down, place them into a plastic container large enough to hold all the eggplants previously grilled, then add 1 tablespoon of pesto to the eggplants and stir. Place the eggplants in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 hours, to allow the flavor to come out. Grilled eggplants with pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for about 4 days. This dish is flavorful, refreshing and compliments many dishes and makes a delicious compliment to any cold cut meat panino.

Zucchini -  Yellow Squash

Yellow squash and zucchini grilled just as eggplants when topped with pesto are amazingly delicious. A more colorful dish if  you were to grill  both yellow squash and zucchini. Same as grilled eggplants, zucchini and yellow quash can be stored in the refrigerator for about 4 days.

Dice zucchini and yellow squash place diced zucchini and yellow squash in a baking pan, add pesto stir all together and bake in a heated oven at 350 degree, till zucchini are tender.

Potatoes

Ready to roast some potatoes in the oven, before you do so add pesto to the potatoes, stir and place in the oven and roast till potatoes are tender.

Make an Italian potato salad, take about 4 potatoes, dice and place the potatoes in boiling water, let cook till potatoes are tender. Drain potatoes and let them cool down and finally dress them with pesto, stir and serve.

Mushrooms

Saute Mushrooms then add a tablespoon of pesto and serve! When making stuffed mushrooms add pesto to the stuffing mixture. Makes a delicious and original recipe perfect for Fall.



All above photos reflect the food recipe and photo credit by Google