I love this time of year because the early bounty from the garden and the herb garden can be harvested and used. So I went out today and harvested some leaf vegetables and herbs to make a Spring Pesto.
Pesto isn’t limited to basil. In fact, my basil isn’t ready yet so I have everything but basil in this pesto.
After washing the herbs and veggies…
…I took the stems off and put about 2 packed cups into the food processor with the cutting blade inserted. Pulsed the greens a few times.
I added 1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
2/3 cup Olive Oil
1/2 – 1 cup grated cheese ( I used a mix of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano)
About 3 cloves of garlic minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pulse until thoroughly mixed and a creamy consistency. You can add more olive oil if you like your pesto a little thinner.
The whole process takes about 1/2 hour. Now that I had the Pesto made I started on dinner.
I took some foil and doubled it over to give it some weight and sprayed the foil with olive oil. Cut 1 peeled regular potato or Yukon Gold into thin slices and lay in a pile in the center of the foil. Spray with Olive Oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
Place salmon filet on top of potatoes and drizzle olive oil over salmon. Drizzle lemon juice over salmon. Add 1 tablespoon of fresh pesto on top of salmon. Close up salmon in foil making a packet.
Place packets in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until salmon and potatoes are done. Remove packets from oven.
Unwrap Salmon packets and transfer to plates.
Add a vegetable and dinner is served.
From start to finish about one hour to an hour and 15 minutes with no dishes.
Enjoy!
