I recently came across imported jars of pesto from Italy, what can I do with the stuff?!
By the way I live in South Korea, so it's a bigger deal that you may think just finding the stuff!
Answers: Of course mix it with pasta, but are there any other creative or delicious ways of using it? Thanks!
By the way I live in South Korea, so it's a bigger deal that you may think just finding the stuff!
Add olive oil and it's real good for bread dipping. You can put it in lasagna, sandwiches, one baked chicken, or this ... slice a fresh tomato as well as fresh mozzarella. Layer one over the other, top with some pesto. Now you have a caprese salad with a twist. Good stuff.
try pasta and cubes of chicken with pine nuts MMMM YUMMY its the best!!
Spread it on toast. Use as pizza topping.
Add some to ranch dressing and use it on salad. Make a cheese ball with some in it. Add it with some butter or oil to plain pasta. Make a cream and spinach sauce with pesto. You could make a chicken and pesto pizza. Not sure what is available in S. Korea but here are some ideas.
You can put it on any kind of meat and broil it (kinda like a marinade). Goes great as a sauce with steamed veggies. Smear it on bread and broil for a tasty toast. Great as a dip with raw veggies too! Use like mayo in a sandwich. Or as a salad dressing...
Try it with some gnocchi. Gnocchi is a delicious pasta product with potato filling. Goes great with pesto!
One of the delicious uses I have found for pesto in a jar is this:
Get some chicken breasts, thick ones, or any other thick part of the chicken. Cut with a sharp knife a slit on one side and make a kind of pocket, making sure you do not cut all the way through. Then with a smal spoon fill in the pocket with the pesto. Then grill the chicken . It will come out juicy and very tasty. When you serve it spoon a little of the pesto sauce on top.
TIP: try and make the cut from the top on the side, not from the bottom, that way less pesto has the possibility of coming out. Also if after pushing the pesto inside you either see that the pocket has a "big mouth" or you are worried it will come out, you can use a tooth pick to close it. Yuummy Goood!!! Hope it helps.
spread it on pizza dough, make a pasta salad with it, or a fresh mozzarella, tomato and pesto salad.
Just a tad on boiled or grilled vegetables is delicious. I have spread it over broiled/ baked fish and chicken. I've added a tablespoon to tomato soups. Just remember ... a little bit goes a long way, or it can overpower a dish.