Mac Nut Pesto

Pesto, glorious pesto!

We think pesto is one of humanities greatest culinary inventions. We know this is a big statement. We both have long thought pesto has a magical quality to it. It makes almost anything taste amazing. Many moons ago, when Traci went to Italy, she was really keen on going to the original home of pesto.

Pesto was supposedly invented in a region of Italy called Lituria, more specifically amongst the Cinque Terre, a gorgeous and highly touristed strip of five consecutive villages on the Italian Riviera.

To give credit where credit is due, rumor has it that the ancient Romans had already figured out that pounding together herbs, cheese and garlic, a paste known as moretum, made something yummy. Basil came from India originally and eventually found its way to Italy and France. Somehow those crafty Liturians were divinely guided to throw in some pine nuts and give birth to what we now know as pesto.

Originally, pesto is made of basil, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and either Parmesan or Romano cheese (or both). Of course, many variations on pesto have been born as it has expanded to the far reaches of the earth, and rightly so. Being in Hawaii, and given contamination concerns with pine nuts from China, we decided to share our love of macadamia nut pesto, but you can play with whatever kind of nuts you like.

Reasons to love pesto…

• It’s delicious.
• It’s versatile.
• It tastes good on almost anything savory.
• You may think of just putting pesto on pasta, but that’s a very limited view on pesto (and high carb to boot). If you want to expand your world view of pesto, consider putting it on meat and vegetables.
• Pesto is really great for kids. Kids tend to like it a lot, so if you’re a parent and want to get your kids to try more food you can try putting pesto on any vegetable or meat that your child might otherwise resist eating.

There are also many variations on pesto, which allow for a myriad of pesto spin-offs.

• Removing the cheese for the dairy intolerant. You might also try a little nutritional yeast or mild (nutty, not bitter) brewer’s yeast for a cheesy flavor.
• Change the nuts (like in this Mac nut pesto recipe).
• Change the herb component. Heck, make a parsley pesto or try Thai basil.
• Not so nuts about nuts? How about some sun-dried tomato (rehydrated) and basil pesto? It’s so delicious, you can even forgo the nuts for those of you with nut sensitivities or allergies. If you can’t do nuts or cheese (Traci’s plight for a few years), then a sundried tomato-basil-garlic-olive oil blend darn near tastes like pesto.
• Dare we change the oil? What about cilantro mint and macadamia nut pesto with coconut oil?

TIP! Skya has even discovered that adding arugula to basil pesto helps keep it from turning brown and adds a wonderful flavor. Yum!

Pesto is also practical. Do you have something a little boring that you want to make extra special? Just slather on some pesto. You can steam, sauté, bake or grill just about anything, add pesto and it becomes a gourmet dish. Pesto is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make food taste exceptional. Skya likes it slathered on top of a frittata just before serving.

TIP! A great idea is to make pesto in large batches and freeze it in ice cube trays and pop out your pesto cubes to store in a BPA free plastic bag or glass jar in the freezer. That way, you just thaw however many cubes you need for a given meal.

If you have a garden, you might want to consider growing your own basil or other herbs for pesto (organically, of course) because home grown often has better flavor and because it’s just plain fun to harvest your own herbs and cook with them. Plus it is way cheaper!

WHY SHOULD I MAKE MY OWN PESTO?

Unfortunately, not all pesto is created equal. Store-bought pesto can often be of inferior quality and flavor as well as nutritional value. It can even be downright unhealthy if it has refined oils, factory farm dairy, and even harmful additives and preservatives.

If I do buy pesto in the store or at a farmer’s market, what should I look for?

• First, pesto should only have a few ingredients: herbs or sundried tomatoes, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, aged high quality cheese (optional) and possibly salt. If it has anything else, chances are, you should just say no.
• Organic if at all possible (this avoids synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, GMO, etc.)
• Extra virgin olive oil (no refined or hydrogenated oils, like canola, soybean or refined olive oil). If it does not say extra virgin or unrefined, assume it’s refined. If at a health food store deli or farmer’s market, ask what kind of oil they use.
• Either no dairy (if sensitive or intolerant) or high quality dairy (note: goat and sheep are easier to digest). Raw and grass fed cheeses would be amazing, but good luck finding that in a pre-made pesto outside a farmer’s market, unless the cheese is from a country like France that still has some standards (even then, you may need to do a little research on the company in all your free time–ugh!). A lot of Italian cheeses are still legit while others have succumbed to modern industrial temptations.
• No sugars (including maltodextrin, dextrin, corn syrup solids, etc.)
• No synthetic chemicals, usually additives and preservatives (like disodium phosphate)
• No funky flavorings including “natural flavors” (especially from soy because these can be MSG precursors)

Wow! That’s a lot of thinking! When you make it yourself, you know exactly what’s in it and you can add lots of love while you’re at it. In short, homemade pesto is easy and it’s the bestest!!!

Recipe Note: If you are playing with pesto variations and you remove the cheese, you will need to add salt. If you’re using a salty cheese, then make sure you taste test your pesto before adding salt because it may be completely unnecessary.

Give it a whirl and let us know how you like it.