A jar of basil pesto is a permanent fixture in our fridge this time of year. We love it tossed with fresh pasta, of course. But we've also found that this fresh garlicky sauce can be a versatile ingredient in all sorts of dishes!
Many of these ideas are also a great way to use up just a little leftover basil!
1. Spread on Sandwiches - We'll mix a little pesto in with the mayo or spread it on our sandwich plain.
2. Instead of Pizza Sauce Using pesto instead of tomato sauce adds an entirely different layer of flavor to homemade pizza.
3. Cold Grain Salads - Try stirring a spoonful of pesto into your next batch of rice salad.
4. On Bruschetta - A smear of pesto topped with a slice of mozzarella on a slice of baguette is one of our favorite quick appetizers.
6. Made into Vinaigrette - Thinned with a little more oil or vinegar, we have a quick vinaigrette for summer salads.
7. Sauce for Grilled Meats - Pesto goes amazingly well with grilled steak, pork chops, chicken, and even fish.
8. Made into Pesto Bread - Before shaping the loaf of bread, spread a little pesto on the inside. Great for dinner rolls, too!
9. Tossed with Veggies - Instead of butter, use a dab of pesto to garnish your side vegetables.
10. Garnish for Soups - Soupe au pistou, a French bean and vegetable stew, is meant to be served with a drizzle of pesto over top. We love this with potato soup, corn chowder, and many other favorites, too!
What other ways do you use pesto?
Related: Low-Fat Pesto: Can It Be As Good As the Real Thing?
(Image: Flickr member diekatrin licensed under Creative Commons)
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I just used the last 1/4 cup of pesto to help flavor a basic tomato sauce to toss with pasta. It really added a nice extra flavor & was so simple.
I also love pesto tossed with boiled or roasted new potatoes.
Or, spread on slices of good bread & then topped with carrot puree & moroccan dukkah. Yum!
I spread it on a tortilla, add some cheese and black beans for great quesadillas.
tossed with white beans ( canned or otherwise) as a quick and easy side dish.
I like it in a recipe that I think I learned of from thekitchn!
Chicken breasts topped with a little dollop of pesto and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, then wrapped up in some thin slices of prosciutto and baked. :)
Pesto makes a great dip. Combine equal portions of pesto, plain greek yogurt( low fat even works) , and goat cheese. Blend all together and add a squeeze of lemon if you have one handy and you have the best summer dip.
Once when making baked ziti with my college roommates, we stirred pesto into the ricotta - it was delicious!
Straight as a dip for crudite (I especially love doing this with arugula pesto)
Swirled in a cup of gazpacho (the real Spanish-style kind--not V8 with coarsely chopped veggies)
Also, I stopped making pesto with cheese once I realized I was lactose intolerant, and I don't miss it! I vary the nuts (pine, walnuts, almond, peanut, pumpkin seed) and the herb mixtures (basil, parsley, arugula, mint, cilantro), as well as the liquids (usually add lemon or lime) and seasonings (sometimes garlic, sometimes none, sometimes chiles if for an "Asian" pesto).
I like adding a little yogurt and turning it into a creamy pesto dressing for romaine lettuce. Yum!
In an omelette. Cook the eggs on one side. Flip. Spread some pesto, some tomatoes and some roasted red peppers. Maybe a few pine nuts and/or some spinach. Fold in half. Enjoy!
Or, if you can't make an omelette to save your life, just do an egg scramble with the same ingredients. Yum!
I adore pesto so anything and everything.
slap it on one side of a cheese sandwich, and grill that sucker up! I always put pesto on my grilled cheese sandwiches
as a layered dip-
cream cheese on bottom, sundried tomato spread in the middle and pesto on top-
all slightly warmed in the oven and served with crackers?
oh heck yes.
Cook pork chops for a few minutes in a pan, remove and coat with pesto on both sides. Lightly coat with bread crumbs and then roast over potatoes in the oven. DELICIOUS!
One of my favourites when I'm low on time to prepare something: Stir pesto through whole button mushrooms and bake for 20 minutes. Serve as party food with toothpicks or as a side dish for dinner.
How can something be so easy, tasty and healthy?
mixed in with cottage cheese...so good!
My son is nearly 4 years old...and he LOVES a big dollop of pesto on his scrambled eggs in the morning. He also loves to say "I eat green eggs!"
I like to make little pesto toasts: Cut a baguette into 1/2" slices. Spread a thin layer of pesto on each slice. Top with your choice of cheese-- I've used everything from shaved parmesan to soft goat cheese-- and put in oven, using the broiler, or in a toaster oven on about 350/375 F. Once cheese has melted, serve with fresh herbs or diced sundried tomatoes.
Looks and tastes much more impressive/ time intensive than it is!
I think I might make some pesto-pasta salad tonight....
We do stuffed bell peppers on the BBQ and pesto always gets added near the end of the cooking as well as small slices of bocconcini on top of the pesto.
Stellar.
I added the last dollop of Pesto to some tuna I was mixing for my husband. He loved the added flavour.
What's the best way to keep fresh made basil pesto?
Toss cherry tomatoes and pearl mozzarella, top with cracked pepper and salt: easy caprese.
Thanks for this list. I always spread pesto over halves of hard-cooked eggs. What a great snack!