Zero waste pesto
Bob Blumer creates a pesto pasta sauce with whatever you have in your fridge, making it a zero waste base for your meal, perfect for you and the family. You can use it for pasta, sandwiches, burgers, pizza sauce, chicken, corn and so many other ways!
YIELDS
1
Ingredients
Pesto Sauce
- 2 cups (total) of celery tops, radish tops, turnip tops, fennel fronds, carrot tops, parsley or cilantro stems, or ideally a mixture of these
- 4 tablespoons rescued olive or vegetable oil (ideally from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, olives, or artichoke hearts)
- 2-4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- Scrapings from the bottom of a peanut butter jar, (ideally a couple of tablespoons), or a handful of or any left-over nuts
- 3 ounces leftover hard cheese (parmigiano reggiano, aged gouda), grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon or 2 of water
Pasta
- Choose your favourite pasta (spaghetti, penne, farfelle, etc)
- Handful of cherry tomatoes
Directions
For the Pesto Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle, and blend.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- If necessary, add a tablespoon or two of water to facilitate the blending process. Reserve.
- TIP: Pesto can be kept in a tightly sealed jar, with a thin layer of oil drizzled overtop, for up to a week. It will keep in the freezer for up to six months. For best results, store in individual portion size.
For the Pasta
- Make your favorite pasta (spaghetti, fusilli, penne, farfalle…fresh or dried) according to directions.
- Just before draining pasta, save a cup of the starchy pasta water.
- Drain pasta, then immediately return it to the pot (off the burner).
- Add 1/3 cup of pesto per serving. Add some cherry tomatoes if desired (ideally sauteed in a little bit of oil beforehand for three minutes).
- Stir in remaining pesto, then add pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, and stir it in until integrated with pesto and pasta.
- Keep adding water and stirring until you have a saucy sauce that coats the pasta (yes, a saucy sauce!). The finished sauce should not be too thick or too watery.
- Serve and enjoy!
