This is one of the most unusual and delicious pestos I have
ever made. It is loosely based on something I saw in a magazine, originally
from the Sunkist Lemon website, but I perfected it. May I brag? I served it
over pasta, but it would be outstanding with chicken, vegetables and fish.
Drizzle over one of my pizzas for total satisfaction. There just aren’t enough
days to eat all the delicious food out there, am I right?
(I used my Vitamix Blender and the pesto was totally creamy
and smooth. I do believe a Cuisinart would do the same. )
Here’s what
you need:
1 fresh
lemon
½ shallot
1 clove
garlic, peeled
¼ C raw
almonds, toasted
½ t sweet
smoked paprika
1 t sweet
paprika
1 T cider
vinegar
1 T rice
wine vinegar (or other, similarly flavored vinegars)
½ C olive
oil
¼ C water
(to thin the pesto)
½ - 1 C hot
pasta water to thin the pesto
Here’s what
you do:
With a sharp
knife, peel and seed the lemon, being careful not to lose any of the juice.
Remove the sections and seeds while holding the lemon over a bowl. Place the
lemon sections and all their juice, shallot and garlic in a food processor or
high powdered blender and whirl until almost smooth. Add the almonds, smoked
paprika, sweet paprika and vinegars and whirl until nuts are very smooth. While
the motor is running, drizzle in the olive oil very slowly. Add the water and thin to desired consistency.
Collect
about a cup of water from your boiling pasta and set it aside. Add as much as
you want to make your pesto creamy and thick. I ended up adding about ¾ C.
Serve this
with roasted vegetables or a tossed salad. Shaved parmesan would be excellent
over this.
(printable recipe)
(printable recipe)
This pesto sauce sounds fresh and lovely. I have a bunch of lemons here to use up!
ReplyDeleteYes, the sauce was very fresh tasting! And it only used one lemon!
ReplyDeleteI really like this. Anything lemon based is good for me. A light fresh taste. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteYes, Pam, I agree.....lemon is always fresh tasting, even on this pasta.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really yummy!
ReplyDeleteYes, Sara, it was really great! Light and tasty!
ReplyDelete