Best Walnut And Parsley Pesto Recipes

PARSLEY, LEMON, AND WALNUT PESTO ON ROASTED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, until golden and tender, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, pulse parsley, garlic, walnuts, zest, and lemon juice in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Drizzle remaining 6 tablespoons oil and process until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
• Top roasted sweet potatoes with 2 tablespoons pesto.

PARSLEY AND WALNUT PESTO ROASTED RED POTATOES

Steps:

• 1. To make pesto: In a large nonstick pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add half the red onions and reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Do not let them burn. Transfer onions to a blender container; leave as much oil in pan as possible.
• 2. Add the parsley, walnuts, garlic, 1/4 cup oil, lemon zest and lemon juice to cooked onions. Season with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and black pepper. Pulse blender until desired consistency is reached. This with a bit of water, if needed.
• 3. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add ricotta; stir until mixed in.
• 4. For potatoes: Cut potatoes into 3-inch pieces. Place them in a large pot. Fill the pot with cold water until the potatoes are barely covered. Bring to a boil over high heat, add 1 teaspoon salt, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook 20 minutes. The potatoes should be fork tender, but firm.
• 5. Drain potatoes thoroughly and let them cool a bit. Once they are cool enough to handle and dried, toss them in the pesto to coat.
• 6. Preheat oven to 425F. Place potatoes and remaining red onion wedges into a greased baking dish. Drizzle with remains olive oil and season with remaining salt. Roaster 30-35 minutes.
• 7. Serve warm.

MASHED POTATOES WITH PARSLEY AND WALNUT PESTO

Steps:

• Combine parsley, walnuts and garlic in a food processor and process until finely minced. Slowly add one-fourth cup of the oil and process until smooth. Set aside.
• Cut the potatoes in large, uniform cubes and boil in salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and mash, mixing with the skim milk and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, either stir in the pesto so it blends uniformly or creates a streaky marbelized effect. Alternately, the potatoes can be served with each portion topped with some of the pesto.

WALNUT AND PARSLEY PESTO

Steps:

• Place garlic and salt in a mortar; smash and mash with the pestle until it becomes a paste, 5 to 8 minutes. Add walnuts; mash walnuts into a paste until you reach your desired texture (coarse or smoother), another 5 to 8 minutes. Add parsley and mash to break up and blend with the walnut/garlic mixture, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice and olive oil; stir, mash, and emulsify liquids into the mixture until it becomes very thick and well blended, 8 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. If mixture seems too thick, whisk in a tablespoon of water, or as needed.
• Spread on bread, use on pizza or pasta, or on roasted chicken. The taste is just like garlic butter, so use it as such.

SEARED ACORN SQUASH WITH TAHINI SAUCE AND WALNUT-PARSLEY PESTO

Steps:

• For the squash: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Set the squash on its side. Position a large chef's knife in the ridge between the wedges and use a heavy wooden kitchen spoon to pound it in a bit. Continue to pound and rock the knife blade to get through the tough stem and then split the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut along each rib to make wedges.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the squash wedges with some salt and pepper and lay them flat in the pan. Sear until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Flip, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, and continue cooking until the second side is deep golden brown, another 8 minutes or so. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the wedges are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. If they are getting too dark, cover them with foil.
• For the walnut-parsley pesto: Press out the cloves from the Roasted Garlic heads and add them to a food processor along with the walnuts, parsley and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pulse until pulverized. With the motor running, drizzle in the walnut oil. Add the Parmesan and some lemon juice, and pulse until just combined.
• For the tahini sauce: Whisk together the tahini and lemon juice in a small bowl (it will look thick and slightly dry). Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the sauce is smooth but still thick (it should be pourable). Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, arrange the squash on a platter, drizzle with tahini sauce, spoon over some pesto, and scatter the pomegranate seeds over the top.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut the tops off the garlic heads, exposing the cloves but leaving the heads intact. Set the heads on a large piece of foil, drizzle with the walnut oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap up the foil to make a pouch and place on a baking sheet. Bake until the garlic is soft and roasted, 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside to cool.