It has been a long time since I’ve posted – the effects of 2020 (somewhat) wore off, and my life came back to some semblance of normalcy, which threw my whole quarantine routine off. I finally finished my exams, and I am now a graduate! I also started working, but I’m coming round to maintaining an upload schedule, where I can share recipes and more with you all.
A few weeks ago, my amazing neighbours sent over a huge bag of basil leaves, fresh from their garden. Immediately, I knew I had to make some pesto! For the uninitiated, pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa, Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese, all blended with olive oil.
The word ‘pesto’ is derived from Italian pestare which means ‘to pound’ or ‘to crush’, which is also how the sauce was originally made. Ingredients were ground in a marble mortar, using a wooden pestle – and this same Latin root gave rise to the English word pestle!
Whenever I share one of my recipes, I always make sure I give credit to whoever came up with the original concept, and specify that I’ve made modifications. Today’s recipes, however, are from two sources, and only one has modifications.
The Pesto recipe is bon appétit’s Best Pesto Recipe, with a few changes. Find it here. This pesto is quite forgiving, and tasted amazing despite my various swaps. Not having access to pine nuts, I used toasted walnuts instead, and because I ran out of Parmesan cheese, I used good old grated Amul cheese cubes. This might have made the pesto creamier than it was supposed to be, but hey, in these times, what can you do?
Another thing to keep in mind is that pesto will discolour over time. Even refrigerated, it can slowly turn an ugly grey or brown which is not at all appetising when compared with its wonderful green hue when fresh. This can be prevented by covering the pesto with a 1/2" layer of olive oil in the jar and then keeping it refrigerated. It will not keep very long, but that usually is not a problem, because I’m almost certain this pesto will not remain long enough for anyone to worry about its shelf life – that’s how good it is!
Coming to the pizza, anyone who knows me knows that I have a morbid fear of yeast. My past attempts at making anything with yeast have ended in near disaster. While I work on overcoming that fear, I’m always on the lookout for easy recipes that don’t use yeast, and it’s safe to say I have found the best 2 (or 3) ingredient pizza dough recipe, courtesy of Emma’s Goodies on YouTube.
This is such a simple recipe, and it takes very little time – no resting required for the dough. It bakes in around 5 minutes, and it can be made in an oven or on the stove! Find it here. This recipe makes a remarkable thin-crust base that is delightful and can do wonders for any pizza cravings you might have.
If you’re using curds from a packet to make this recipe, make sure you whisk the curds before to remove any lumps! This recipe makes 2 approximately 9” pizzas, so feel free to multiply the recipe to make more or less.
The wonderful meeting of pesto and pizza happened quite by accident – the day I decided to try this recipe, I rummaged through the vegetable drawer only to find one tomato left. Not to be deterred, I decided to use the pesto and topped it with tomato slices, black olives and Amul cheese, for a lack of mozzarella.
Honestly, it tasted amazing! This recipe is so flexible, the possibilities are endless! The thing I am most looking forward to when the world goes back to normal is hosting a pizza party where everyone can customise the toppings for their own pizza. Until that happens, of course, my hope is that you will give this recipe a try!
Additionally, sharing this article by linking other recipes and explaining my modifications has given me an idea – should this be a series? Where you send me recipes you find, and I test them out for you, and also give you ideas for substitutes! Let me know what you think in the comments below!
As always, if you try any of these recipes, make sure you send me a photo on Instagram @mosmusingsblog!
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