Pesto is
good, but all that basil can be hard to find or expensive.
This pesto is delicious, a bit different, and it uses
ingredients that are easier to find and cheaper. Nearly
every supermarket carries cilantro, pumkin seeds are usually in
little clear containers in the prodcuce department, you can
substitute Romano for cotija cheese, and you can use a number of
different peppers. After we make this, we divide it into
thirds. One third we use right then and there. The
other two thirds we save for later.
| ¾ cup | hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas) |
| 3 bunches | cilantro, trim the thickest part of the stems off |
| ¾ cup | grated cotija cheese (Romano cheese works if you can’t find cotija) |
| 12 cloves | garlic |
| 1 | serrano pepper, seeded and roughly chopped (or ½ a jalapeno pepper, seeded, or a Thai Bird Chili, seeded) |
| 1½ tsp | salt |
| 18 tbl (5½ oz) | olive oil |
Put the pumpkin seeds in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the cilantro, cheese, garlic, serrano pepper, salt, and olive oil and process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
Scoop the pesto out of the bowl and divide it into 3 equal portions. Cook one pound of your favorite pasta according to the package directions, drain it, and stir in a one third portion of the pesto and serve.
Divide the remaining pesto between two separate small glass bowls. Put the bowls in the freezer, and leave them there overnight. It will freeze solid. Run the bottoms of the bowls under warm water and the olive oil will thaw just enough to run a knife or spatula around the edge of the bowl and release the pesto. Put these in zip top bags, or vacuum seal them and put them back in the freezer. Each portion is enough for 1 pound of pasta, but you can serve it over chicken, in a dip, etc.