This is a classic case of never raining but pouring. Usually I’m begging the farmers for coriander or resorting to grow my own, which in St. Lucia is a little challenging, then….there are forests of the stuff available and locally grown at the wholesale shop. So, typical me, I get all excited and buy way too much, get home and think OK what am I going to do with this lot? I know “cilantro pesto!!” Reason is, it freezes beautifully and is multi talented in its ability to improve many a meal. Not only that, it is so easy to make AND good for our temples.
Coriander cilantro pesto recipe
Makes roughly 1.5 cups
350g coriander (that’s a lot, 12 oz in fact)
150g (5 oz) raw cashews
2 cloves garlic pressed
100g (3 1/2 oz) strong hard cheese (grated) like Parmesan or Romano etc.
8 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
–
Voilà – Cilantro pesto!
Quick question…..have you got yourself a food processor yet? Good. So now all you need to do is put everything in there and blitz happily until it is uniform-ish.
I was so pleased with myself. Normally in the rush of the moment and the excitement of so much coriander, I just quickly make the pesto and put it into a container in the freezer, which then is a bit tricky when all I want is a spoonful or two. This time I was a bit more grown up and froze it in ice trays and then transferred it to freezer bags for the long haul.
I use Coriander / cilantro pesto for any number of enhancements. I slather it on a nice piece of fresh fish which I then grill or bake, use instead of basil pesto in Chicken Charlton stir into soups and sauces to richy-fy them, put on flatbreads, use as a pasta sauce, on top of fresh vegetables, and use wherever I would use Watercress pesto. Seriously this is a brilliant thing to have in the freezer.
I’ll tell you a little secret….if you use the basic concept of a pesto, the leaves, the nuts, the cheese, some olive oil and garlic and blitz them, you’ll end up with a delicious paste which is so versatile. Try! Let me know!
[amd-yrecipe-recipe:16]
8 Comments
Nicky Dyer
April 16, 2015 at 5:56 amSounds lovely Germaine. Can you use pine nuts instead of cashews? Is it healthier to use cashews? Just wondering! Thanks for these recipes they are delicious and are opening my eyes to different options.
Germaine
April 16, 2015 at 12:01 pmThanks so much Nicky. I think pine nuts are more expensive. You could use them though, or indeed almonds. Up to you to experiment and let us all know how it works out.
sue ross
April 16, 2015 at 8:32 amYour recipes are all interesting, healthy, and beautifully presented. Best of luck with the endeavour.
Germaine
April 16, 2015 at 12:00 pmThanks so much Sue. Hope all is well in Brazil
Pauline Frederick
April 16, 2015 at 9:09 amWhere is the wholesale shop please? Pauline x
Germaine
April 16, 2015 at 11:59 amI bought this coriander which was locally grown at Mega J’s Pauline.xx
Dagmar
April 21, 2015 at 9:40 amI bought a huge bunch of cilantro at Mega J’s to make a crema for fish tacos and didn’t know what to do with all the leftover greens – then I remembered your post and voila! I made my first pesto! It’s delicious.
Germaine
April 24, 2015 at 2:12 amYay Dags!!! Great to hear and thanks for letting me know.