Pesto

 It's pesto time!!

Our basil and parsley are

bursting in the garden!

Here's Tony's favorite recipe:

In a food processor blend:

8-10 cloves peeled garlic

2 cups fresh Basil leaves (packed)

1 cup fresh Parsley leaves (packed)

1 cup grated Romano cheese

2/3 cup walnuts

1/2 cup olive oil (plus more)

Once it's pureed in the processor I add enough olive oil so that it's creamy and smooth, but not too runny. It freezes better if it's

on the dry side.

Then I make a "log" of pesto on a long

sheet of wax paper,

and roll it up like a deli sandwich.

Finally I wrap the wax paper log in plastic wrap.

This keeps very well in my deep freeze.

When I need some pesto, I peel back the plastic wrap and cut through

the wax paper, then re-wrap easily.

Our favorite pesto dishes are pasta and pizza. I've also used pesto in meatballs and in sauce for fish.

Buon appetito!

I Beat the Heat with Roasted Veggies and Pizza on the Grill!

 It's been so hot that I haven't wanted to heat up the oven.

So I decided to make some roasted vegetables and a 

thin-crust pizza on my grill!

I used a big, heavy cast iron pan to layer some veggies.  I cut up green cabbage, snap peas, carrots, broccoli, and bell peppers.  We love cauliflower too, but didn't have any in the fridge.

I coated them with canola oil (you could use some olive oil) and then a nice sprinkling of coarse salt and pepper. Then on to the grill they went!

I pre-heated the grill to 400 degrees and stirred the veggies every 6-8 minutes.  They were done in about 20 minutes.

I made a quick pizza dough in my small food processor 

(1 1/2 cups flour, salt, yeast, water).  I let it rise once,

rolled it thin, added cheese and toppings.

I used the same heavy, cast iron pan.

After the veggies were done, I put it on the hot grill 

for about 13 minutes.

The crust browned beautifully on the hot pan.

This was a great dinner without heating up the kitchen!

Let me know what you're grilling!