226. roasted sweet pepper pesto

 a different kind of pesto 

Most Italian restaurants serve a basket of bread before the starters and main dish. To cater for the Indian taste buds most restaurants  have chilli oil or chillis in olive oil served with the bread. For the not so chilli taste buds they serve a dip which I have been trying figure out what it contains. Not that its a big secret but most restaurants refuse to name the ingredients let alone hand out the recipe. The first time I had the dip at La Veranda in Mombasa, it tantalized my taste buds. Some would mislead us by saying oh there are too many things that are put together, one even mentioned corn. But finally I have figured out what it is..... its not just a dip but it is a sweet pepper pesto. I made some a few days ago to go with the home baked bread and thought to myself... its so easy and why why didn't I figure out what the ingredients were long time ago. Oh well, I guess things happen when they are meant to happen... at the right moment. For a few days I think the pesto sauce is going to replace the green chutney on my bread. An excellent spread for sandwiches, nice dip for bread sticks, I even tried it on a normal chapatti and it tasted good.





ROASTED SWEET PEPPER PESTO
Makes about a cup

1 red pepper
1 yellow or orange pepper
1 medium onion, peeled
6 to 8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp salt
2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pepper powder
8 to 10 green or black olives (pitted)
1 to 2 green chillis (optional)
1 tbsp cider vinegar
extra olive oil

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Cut the peppers into half. Remove the pith and seeds. Cut into chunks.
  3. Cut the onion into chunks.
  4. Place the sweet pepper and onion chunks , garlic and chillis in a baking tray.
  5. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.
  6. Roast the pepper mixture for 20 to 25 minutes.
  7. Cool the mixture.
  8. Add  the olives and process the mixture into a coarse paste in a food processor.
  9. Remove the pesto into a container. Add the vinegar and mix well. Add extra olive oil if you prefer.
Tips :
  • Can pan fry the peppers, onions, garlic, chilli in the olive oil instead of roasting them.
  • Don't use a vinegar substitute as it will not be as tasty. Use any other good vinegar.
  • The pesto can e stored in the fridge for a week.
  • Use a fresh red chilli if you like.
You may want to check out the following:

onion mango chutney

Sending this recipe for the following event:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Koiloreo/ Kuilodde/ Koilori (Goan Pancakes)

Image
The Holiday State    February is when Shhh Cooking Secretly group (started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes ) had a virtual tour of Goa. Its been over 30 years since I've visited Goa. I remember when we were passing the town centre, there was a huge crowd of people. We asked the taxi driver what was going on and he replied "koi naya actor ki shooting chal rahi hai, aap ko dekhna hai?" he asked. We asked if he knew the actor and he said no so we didn't stop to watch. Who was the new actor? None other than Shakrukh Khan shooting for the movie Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa!    I remember we were staying at some hotel in town and would go to the Taj Holiday Resort to get onto the beach. Back then there were not many hotels. I remember getting to the beach and for miles there would hardly be anyone. There use to be a fish shack near Taj and hubby, my brother and my cousin would enjoy fresh fish and I'd get only French fries (fishy ones)!    Goa is  the smallest states
Read more

337.Green tomato jam

Image
My first jam making session      I have over the years accumulated many jam recipes but have never tried making jam. I don't know, is it because I feel it might be difficult or I get scared to sterilise the jars. Don't know why. However, today Julius my househelp, walks in with a whole bag of green tomatoes from his farm. I got excited and instantly the recipe for the green tomato jam came out my recipe book. I was a bit hesitant as I had no idea how the jam would turn out. It tastes yummy and I had some with plain paratha as a snack in the afternoon. The jam is sweet and tangy at the same time. It didn't take long at all and I think now the jam bug is slowly creeping into my bones. Its funny how I get stuck onto certain things for a period of time, first it was salads, then bread, followed by muffins then the cookie bug took over and now it seems its jams. Planning to make some to take for my Nunu and my daughter, Nami as I am travelling very soon to India. Will try out di
Read more

535.Buckwheat savoury pancakes/uttapams

Image
Buckwheat savoury pancakes#Bread Bakers Starting a healthy year   The Bread Bakers theme for January is Ancient Grains hosted by Robin Beck of  A Shaggy Dough Story . I'll be honest, had a slight idea about ancient grains but never actually paid much attention to it. I have used some of them not knowing that they are classed as ancient grains. My research began on the internet as to what really are ancient grains(heritage grains). All the grains we know are somewhat ancient as they have existed for years. However ancient grains are ones that have not changed over the last hundred years i.e have not been hybridized. They have not been modified over the years.Ancient grains have more robust texture thriving without much pesticides and fertilizers.Some of the most common ancient grains are quinoa, millet, spelt, teff, sorghum, farro(emmer), kamut(khorasan), chia, freekeh,amaranth, buckwheat,barley, wild rice. I realised that the Indian cuisine uses quite a few of these ancient grains
Read more