Fast and Easy Parsley Pesto

There are days when the last thing I want to do is make anything complicated. What usually happens is I open the fridge, scan it for something good, find nothing appealing, and close the fridge door, only to open and scan it again 15 minutes later, hoping for a miracle that something delicious appeared. Of course, nothing appears, so I had to work with what I had, which was an obscene amount of Italian flat leaf parsley, some lemons, and garlic.

The only idea that popped into my head was to make a lemon parsley pesto sauce. I've only ever made traditional pesto using basil. I had no idea how a pesto using parsley and lemon would taste, but my growling stomach didn't particularly care at the time. Regardless of how it turned out, I was going to eat it. So here's my very basic, improvised recipe for the pesto...

1 large handful Italian flat leaf parsley

2 cloves of garlic

zest of half a lemon

juice of half a lemon

1/8-1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Remove all the stems from the parsley and roughly chop the parsley, and toss into a food processor. Next, crush the garlic, remove the skin, and throw it on top of the parsley. Follow with the pine nuts, lemon juice, zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Combine all the ingredients until it forms a smooth paste, and adjust the flavor accordingly. I happen to like lots of lemon and garlic, so I added more of those ingredients, and pulsed it again to make sure everything was fully incorporated. 

parsley pesto linguini topped with Parmesan cheese

I think this pesto can be used for a bunch of different things, such as a topping for chicken or fish. However, I used it for pasta because 1) that's all I had, and 2) I love pasta. The flavor brighter than that of a basil pesto, which I prefer. The lemon juice adds an acidic element that I feel is missing from traditional pesto sauces. I also think this version can definitely be altered, such as substituting walnuts for the pine nuts, adding some arugula in with the parsley, etc., which I will be trying in the future.

On a slightly different note, Tipsy is finally starting to feel better. As I write, she's sound asleep on my bed. When I say on my bed, I mean she's taking up half my bed, snoring, and farting. As strange as it sounds, I'd rather have her stinking up my room than being lethargic and sick. However, I now have a new problem... How to reclaim my bed... I still haven't figured that out.

taking up valuable bed space

Green Chile Tomato Soup

It's been a while since I've had a puppy, and I had forgotten how much work it takes to raise one. Last time I had one, I was 14 years old and on summer break. Now it's 11 years later and the memories are coming back to me. It's hard enough to find enough time to cook. It's close to impossible to make anything when Tipsy is sick, which she has been for the past two weeks or so. Instead of making complicated things, I've been favoring food that is easy to make, and takes very little babysitting, such as soup.

She likes to sleep on the recliner when she's feeling sick. What a princess.

While watching Tipsy, I began looking for interesting recipes that used green chile, as I still have a ton of it left. When I saw a recipe for green chile tomato soup, I knew I had to make it. I love soup, and since the weather was cold, it made even more sense to make a huge pot of it. 

Recipe adapted from The Kitchen Paper:

2 28-oz cans diced and crushed tomatoes (I use San Marzano tomatoes)

3/4 cup green chile

1 cup water

2-3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cloves crushed garlic (Yes, it's a lot but I love garlic, haha)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon hot paprika

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, add the diced onion, olive oil, and butter, and cook on medium-high until the onions start to soften and turn translucent (takes about 5 minutes). 

Onions with olive oil and butter

Next, add the garlic and spices, and cook for an additional minute or two. Make sure the spices are evenly distributed in the onions.

Adding the garlic and spices

Then add the tomato paste and green chile, and continue to cook on medium-high until the tomato paste has been incorporated.

Mixing in the tomato paste and green chile

Once everything has cooked down, add the canned tomatoes, water, and chicken broth. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour. After simmering, use either a stick blender or a traditional blender and blend the soup until smooth. I personally prefer to leave a few chunks of tomatoes and green chile floating in there, but smooth is also nice. Finally, add the sour cream and heavy cream, bring back up to a boil, and salt and pepper to taste.

my favorite kind of canned tomatoes

Onions, green chile, tomato paste, and spices all cooked down

bringing the soup back to a boil after being blended and adding the sour cream and heavy cream

I think this soup is absolutely wonderful. I made it spicier than it should be, but that's how I like things. One bonus about the extra spiciness, it helped to warm me up quickly, which is always a good thing. To go with the soup, I made a simple piece of garlic toast by slicing some Italian loaf bread, toasting it, then rubbing the toast with a piece of cut garlic, drizzling a bit of olive oil on top, then topping it with a bit of sea salt. 

Soup + toast = delicious dinner

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

I'll admit it, I can be an emotional eater. If something is bothering me, there are a few things that, without fail, I'll automatically reach for. One is gelato, another is fresh bread dipped in cold pressed, unfiltered, virgin olive oil. It's basic and simple, and completely divine. I can demolish half a loaf of Italian bread and olive oil in no time at all, especially if I'm watching horrifically bad reality TV to quiet my thoughts. 

However, this time, I wanted to do something different than watch 'Duck Dynasty' with a loaf of bread. A friend had mentioned that she recently made an olive oil cake and said it was fantastic, so of course I wanted to try making one myself. Instead of making a lemon or orange cake, I wanted to do something a little different, and when I saw this recipe for a rosemary olive oil cake with chocolate ganache, I was sold.

Recipe adapted from here:

For the cake:

4 eggs at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup olive oil (I used cold-pressed, unfiltered olive oil for the more intense flavor)

1 1/4 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (can use dried, but reduce to 1 tablespoon)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the ganache:

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup heavy cream

Pre-heat the oven to 325°. Line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper, and butter and flour the pan. I do this instead of using cooking spray.

Cake pan lined with parchment, then buttered and floured

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium speed until the mix turns light and fluffy, about 5 minutes or so. While the eggs and sugar are mixing, in a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

Eggs and sugar

What the eggs and sugar should look like once beaten

Once the egg and sugar mixture has turned light yellow and doubled in volume, slowly drip in the olive oil, then stir in the rosemary, and combine until just mixed. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Be sure not to overmix the batter, otherwise the cake will be dense. Once the flour is just combined, pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick (or a paring knife) comes out clean.

Drizzling in the olive oil

Stirring in the rosemary

Pour batter into prepared pan

Fresh out the oven!

After a toothpick or knife comes out clean, let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then unmold by running a sharp paring knife around the cake and invert onto a plate, then slide onto a cooling rack and let it cool until it reaches room temperature.

While the cake is cooling, heat up the heavy cream in a small sauce pan on low-medium heat. Take care to not let the cream come to a full boil. Once small bubbles begin to appear in the cream, take it off the stove and pour over the chocolate chips. Using a rubber spatula, stir the cream and chocolate until all the chips have melted and the chocolate is smooth and shiny.

Pour heated cream onto the chocolate chips...

... and mix until all the chocolate is melted and smooth

Once the cake is completely cooled, pour the ganache over the cake. Use a small offset spatula to spread the ganache evenly over the top and sides. Once the ganache sets, the cake is ready to serve.

Ganache poured over the cake

First slice is always the best!

I know rosemary, olive oil, and chocolate, all together, sounds really strange. But... all the flavors work together so well. The rosemary gives the cake a nice, earthy flavor, which is balanced out by the chocolate. Next time, I would even replace the chocolate with marmalade, just to see how the addition of fruit changes the flavor combination.  In any case, whether topped with chocolate or fruit preserves, this recipe is certainly a keeper.