PESTO WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND ARTICHOKE HEARTS

I was craving pesto all week, a rare occurrence. I've never been a "pesto craving" kind of girl, until now!

So I zipped over to the market on my way home from school to pick up the ingredients missing from what was available in my kitchen.

To my dismay, there were only very large bags of pine nuts -- too big to justify leaving in my pantry for a couple of years until my next pesto craving.

I thought about how much I love cashews, and decided that would be a delicious substitute, but only roasted cashews were available. (Talk to me about what slow roasting does to nuts... it's not good).

Leaving the store, I planned to make the recipe with whatever nuts (except walnuts, ick) were in my pantry. And that's what I did!

In place of pine nuts, I incorporated half almonds and half hazelnuts. The pesto came out tasting awesome!

PESTO WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND ARTICHOKE HEARTS

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted

1 cup basil, packed

4 cloves roasted garlic

1 can water packed artichoke hearts (I use a little less)

1/2 cup vegetable broth

METHOD:

In a food processor, pulse nuts until finely ground but do not puree.

Add sun-dried tomatoes, basil, roasted garlic and artichoke hearts in a food processor, and pulse to coarsely chop.

Add vegetable broth and process until mixture becomes a thick paste.

Serve as an appetizer with crostini and raw vegetables (as in my photo above). For a main dish, toss with pasta and/or steamed vegetables.

Store unused pesto covered in refrigerator.

CHEF'S NOTES:

This pesto would be yummy as a layer in lasagna, or on wraps or pizza. Also, blend a bunch of it with chickpeas, tahini, vegetable broth and lemon juice for a rich, tasty hummus!

Sunday in the Kitchen

Spent the weekend in the kitchen. It's been raining and blustery for several days, so what better activities than cooking and baking some special comfort foods?!

Yesterday, I stuffed pasta shells with a ricotta and spinach filling and smothered them in a homemade marinara sauce. Tangy and delicious! Later in the evening, I baked a super-moist chocolate cake and mini-muffins.

Today, I frosted the cake and muffins just as the morning was beginning to bluster like crazy. Then, I made pizza dough. In between the assembly and baking of two pies, I started the dessert we will take to our friends' home later tonight: a pear-apple-cranberry tarte tatin. I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees F to accommodate the snacking pizza.

First, I rolled the pizza dough very thin, placed it on a square of parchment paper which was on top of a large wood bread board. Then I brushed the dough with olive oil, topped with 1/2 cup of leftover marinara, 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella, super-thin slices of tomato and garlic, basil, salt and pepper, then threw on some more olive oil. I slid the parchment paper onto my pre-heated baking stone in the oven for exactly 15 minutes. I let the pie rest on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes, and ate half while making my dessert!

The pear-apple-cranberry tarte tatin is baked to perfection and the second pie just came out of the oven, so when I publish this post, it will be snackie time!