Monday, July 14, 2008

Scape Pesto

UPDATE: A friend suggested I mix the lemon/limeade with my Hendricks Gin.
Best suggestion in a loooooong time.
It's my new favorite summer drink.
Better than mojito.
Better than Pimm's lemonade.
Better than a Negroni.
I need to come up with a fetching name for this concoction....

As you were~
***
I had a delightful dinner highlighting garlic scapes and fresh herbs....



The pesto was fairly simple, I cut up the green stems and 3 of the white flower heads - that's the part with the most flavor - there was no definitive answer on whether or not to use them, so I split the difference.
2 of stems of basil.
2 stems of oregano.
4 chive spikes.
I threw that into a food processor to chop.
Then I added some olive oil (1/4 cup-ish).
Some chopped walnuts (again, 1/4 cup-ish)
Salt and pepper to taste and some parmesean cheese.
I sauteed the pesto with angel hair pasta and added some fresh basil chiffonade.

And it goes well with... Lemonade!

I've been making a concerted effort to use as much of my herbs as possible (I had a habit of growing them and rarely using them). So I've been looking for recipes the match my garden, especially the lemon verbena that's doing really well this year.

Lemonade
Simple syrup: Heat 1 cup H20 with 1 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved.
Pour that over a bunch of freshly cut verbena, lemon balm and mint to infuse (about 30 minutes). I think any citrus-y or minty herb would do: pineapple sage, lemon grass or just mint alone.

Meanwhile, juice and strain 3 lemons and 2 limes and add it to syrup (which was also strained).
Add cold water to taste.

Deeee-lightful on a summer day.

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