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Ashley English Recipes

You Will Need:

  • 2 cups packed herbs or greens*
  • 1/2 cup grated hard cheese**
  • 1/3 cup toasted nuts or seeds***
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil
  • Salt to taste

*Options include: basil leaves and flowers, parsley leaves and flowers, cilantro leaves
and flowers, mint leaves and flowers, sage leaves and flowers, thyme leaves and
flowers, tarragon leaves and flowers, dill fronds and flowers, fennel fronds and flowers,
rosemary flowers, oregano flowers, marjoram flowers, chive blossoms, garlic chives,
scallions, ramps, green garlic shoots, garlic scapes, nasturtium leaves and flowers,
dandelions, arugula, spinach, watercress, mache, miner’s lettuce (claytonia), carrot
greens, kale and/or kale stems, chard and/or chard stems, collard greens and/or collard
stems, broccoli stems, cauliflower stems, shelled peas and/or pea shoots, shelled fava
beans and/or fava leaves, bean leaves
**Options include: parmesan, pecorino, grana padano, asiago, cotija
***Options include: pine nuts, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios, cashews,
macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, sunflowers seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hemp
seeds.

To Make:
Pesto is typically made one of three ways. The traditional method comes from its namesake and involves pounding the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Purists may insist this is the only way to properly release and blend all the flavors and oil, and to a certain extent this is true. But in a modern kitchen, a food processor or blender does the job quite well, and it’s my go-to method in this book. You can also mince and combine all the ingredients with a knife or mezzaluna, adding a drizzle of olive oil in the end to hold the sauce together.

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