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Tag: pesto

Filippo Berio Tomato & Ricotta Pesto – Review

October 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I came across this product soon after having some complimentary bread with a creamy tomato sauce at some restaurant, probably Buon Appetito in Hayward. My daughter and I really liked it, so when I saw it, I figured I’d give it a try.

I hadn’t tried it until now but it tastes exactly as you would expect from the title/description. It basically taste like pesto, which has been mixed with some ricotta cheese and tomato sauce. The strongest flavor in the mix is the Grana Padano cheese, a cheap cousin to Parmesan, followed by the basil, which stands in the background. The tomato adds quite a bit of intense acidity to the mixture, while the Ricotta somewhat softens it, but can mostly be felt in the soft yet slightly chalky texture.

All in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit on French bread, but the acidity is such that you can’t eat too much of it. Still, it works well as a dip, and you could make interesting canapes with it. The producers also suggest as recommended uses: “Roasting or Basting Proteins and Vegetables, Baked into Bread, Layered with Pasta as Lasagna, Base for Creamy Soup”. I’d note that due to its intense flavor, less is likely to be more on any dinner dish.

Filippo Berio is a brand named after the namesake of the olive oil company he started. In addition to olive oils, they produce and sell balsamic vinegars, pestos and glazes. They seem to be base din Lucca, Italy and the pesto is made in Italy. It sells at my local Safeway supermarket for $6.60 (I bought it on sale 2 months ago for $2.50 and it’s currently on sale for $4).

Creamy Pesto Sauce Recipe

September 14, 2021 / / 0 Comments

My basil has been incredible this year – at least the one I keep by my kitchen window. It started from a small pot I got at the supermarket in the spring and since then it’s grown, grown and grown. It’s done significantly better than the basil we’re keeping on a pot inside.

And what better to do with basil than to make creamy pesto? The recipe below is very basic but it works. You may need to use less Parmesan-Romano cheese if you use a high quality one – I just went with a pre-shredded supermarket brand because it’s cheap and easy. I used walnuts, as I already had them, and they’re far cheaper than pine nuts – but, of course, pine nuts are tastier and more traditional.

If you are looking for a vegan version, try this one.

Creamy Pesto Sauce

  • 2 cups basil leaves
  • 5 garlic cloves, 3 whole and 2 minced
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese
  • 1/2 cup olive oil plus more for sautéing
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Using an electric food processor, puree the basil leaves, whole garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, pine nuts and salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add the chopped garlic and sauteé for 30 seconds. Add the pesto sauce and sauteé for another 30 seconds. Add the cream and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.

Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce

November 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

My vegan daughter wanted pasta with a creamy pesto sauce for Thanksgiving, and I, of course, obliged. I was fortunate to find this amazing recipe online and both my daughter and her non-vegan sister loved it. It did require a couple of adaptations from the original recipe, noted in the one below.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz pasta
  • 2 cups plain, unsweetened oat milk or another vegan milk
  • 1/3 cup vegan pesto
  • 2 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

Make pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, add the milk, pesto, corn starch, nutritional yeast and salt to a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it starts to boil. Turn heat down to medium and continue whisking until it has the consistency you want, add more cornstarch if necessary.

Adapted from Monica’s recipe at The Hidden Veggies.

Meal Kit Review: Plated Scallop Penne with Mint-Spinach Pesto, Roasted Mushrooms, and Walnuts

December 7, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rating: 7/10

We never eat enough seafood – as only two of us in the family like it -, so I decided to order seafood dishes for my first week with Plated.  It was a bad move as my husband ended up being out four out of five nights this week, but I made this one for our sole dinner together.  It was a modest success.

The meal kit for Scallop Penne with Mint-Spinach Pesto, Roasted Mushrooms, and Walnuts consists of 4 components: baby scallops which are simply seared, a spinach pesto which you make in the blender, mushrooms and walnuts which you toast in the oven and pasta, which you cook and  mix with peas.  That meant the use of three pans plus the blender, which for someone like me without a dishwasher, is a little more washing that I like to do.  I also wasn’t excited about having to roast the mushrooms and walnuts in the oven, as it seems to me a waste of gas to have to preheat the oven for just this purpose.  I wish Plated’s recipes were a bit more efficient.

All that said, the meal was very simple to put together and cook.  I was very happy with the spinach pesto, which seems like a good way to get some veggies into your diet.  I was hoping I could make the pesto vegan by not adding the Parmesan, but without it it had a terrible flavor.  With it, it was perfectly balanced.  I should note that I added the whole package of Parmesan, not just half.

The other problem with this meal kit is that it didn’t include enough walnuts or mushrooms (there were maybe 5 walnuts and 3 mushrooms for the whole meal).  It was good as it was, but more of the two would have made it better.

I was afraid that the meal wouldn’t be large enough for two, but we were both satisfied after eating it.

As a final point I should note that the scallops arrived semi-frozen.  I don’t know if that’s because they were frozen to begin with or whether they semi-froze by being in contact with the freezer sheets.

All in all it’s a good meal and I will make the spinach pesto again (recipe below).

Spinach Pesto

  • 1 1/2 oz spinach leaves
  • 1/8 ounce mint leaves
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 oz Parmesan or vegan Parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Using an electric blender, pure together the spinach and mint leaves, garlic, cheese, olive oil and water.  Once you have a smooth paste, mix in the lemon juice and salt.

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