Hello everyone, Jess here.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled “Sunday Dinner” post to bring you this breaking news! Folks from the Winter CSA “Group A” received a double batch of cilantro in their final share box.
If you are from Group A and feeling overwhelmed, fear not, we got you covered! Pesto is a quick and easy way to preserve the fresh flavors of this lovely herb for many dishes to come!
With some herbs like basil and mint where the stems are more woody, you can often let them live happily on your table in a glass of water for weeks. Cilantro has a delicate edible (and delicious) stem that does not hold up as well.
As you can see here, this is the amount of chlorophyll released into that water after just 12 hours in a glass of water. There are a few tips and tricks to preserve the freshness, (such as wrapping them in a damp paper towel and foil and place them in the crisper drawer). Whenever I can, I try to work with cilantro quickly after picked to harness as much of that fresh flavor as possible.
The great news about the delicate nature of this herb is that you can enjoy the stems along with the leaves! I’ll give a VERY good cold water wash to a bunch before removing just the very ends of the stems.
These stems make great compost or feed for the chickens! The second chop of the stem end goes into the freezer with the veggie scraps for the next batch of veggie broth.
Then I just work my way from stem to leaf, chopping up the rest. This allows for a natural separation to occur – as you can see the batch on the left has more stems, where the batch on the right has more leaves.
The pesto I make from the stemmier cilantro (on the left) will be used more for cooked dishes such as pasta, poultry or seafood. The leafier cilantro (on the right) will be better as a mix in for uncooked dishes, such as guacamole, hummus, sour cream dips, vinaigrettes, etc.
I gave these herbs one more pass through the salad spinner before beginning the pesto. (There is not much worse than gritty pesto). If you don’t have a salad spinner, you’ll want to take the extra time to ensure your herbs are dry before making the pesto, as it will effect the consistency and how well it all holds up in the freezer.
As I was experimenting with all my pesto ingredients to nail the sweet spot, I was reminded of how much pesto can be a matter of personal taste. Depending on what you’ll be doing with it, you may want an oilier pesto, a cheesier pesto (or no cheese at all), a nuttier pesto (or no nuts at all), a more garlicky pesto, etc. Therefore, I decided I’d provide a base recipe and then some tweaks that I enjoy.
For those that want to get right to it, here’s a general ratio I start with when making most pestos:
- 1 cup packed leaves/stems
- 1/2 cup nuts
- 1/4 cup freshly grated cheese
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves garlic
- additions to taste (such as pepper, lemon or lime juice)
Choosing your oil can be as easy or as complex as you want. Olive oil is the standard. Avocado oil has a mild taste for guacamole, for example. Sesame oil can provide a nuttier flavor for pestos to be used in Asian dishes or to hummus.
Choosing the nuts is another area where you can make pesto your own. Almonds add a nice crunch when making a coarser and stemmier pesto, and add a wonderful creaminess when grinding things finer. Walnuts provide an earthier taste, while pecans can bring on a buttery flavor that goes great with milder herbs and oils. Pistachios require patience to shell, but make for awesome pesto.
Whatever cheese you go with, I believe freshly grating makes a big difference in the taste. Parmigiano-Reggiano is my cheese of choice today, it’s got a granular and salty texture that I love in pestos (plus it’s what I have on-hand!) Pecorino Romano or straight Parmesan is good as well!
Here are the 4 variations of cilantro pesto that I made today (pictured left to right):
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds (quickly toasted)
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, plus a little more to help with blending
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 hefty tablespoons chopped walnuts
- dash of lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 dash of salt and pepper
- 1 cup cilantro stems
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- dash of ground pepper
I used a Vitamix to whip up my pestos, so added everything at once. With a standard food processor you can start with all ingredients but the oil, then drizzle in the oil as you process the other ingredients. If you have time and a mortar and pestle, you can crush your herbs the old fashioned way, too!
I also wanted to mention a quick shout out to some other ideas folks are sharing! Fellow Springdellian Betsy B. whipped up a base pesto (with no cheese or nuts):
- 2 cups lightly packed cilantro
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 2 T lemon juice
- salt and pepper
A great idea for freezing if you’re not sure how you plan to use it. You can always stir in some cheese, chopped nuts or other ingredients later on if you choose.
Fellow Springdellian Dawn DeMeo is making a large batch of garlic-cilantro butter to freeze for this summer’s corn! She uses:
- 6 tablespoons Amish roll butter, softened
- 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
(For more info on how to make herbed butter, click here.)
How are you using your pesto? We always love to hear your ideas, as hundreds of cooks are better than two! Please feel free to add a comment to this post, or send us your variation here!
Thanks to all those sharing wonderful ideas, and let me also add a quick thank you to Farmer Jamie for supplying us with this cilantro! If you don’t know, is an herb that she is allergic to and can’t stand to be around. We appreciate it, Jamie!