A pesto has nothing to do with ruccola. You would say. And you would be right, if it was a master course and you were requested to present something authentic. Most probably you are an enthusiastic woman, who is both a working professional and a caring housewife, who tries to maintain (or increase?) her enthusiasm, when it comes to managing the food at home, at a reasonable (if not minimum) waste generation level.
Yes, as you may have experienced, food prices tend to jump, not to mention that it is anyway better not to spend on generating waste, but to be a bit more creative. It seems to be a common issue to have different package sizes than required by recipes, meaning that you almost surely end up with some leftover here and there.
So, here you go with the ruccola, some (at least a 100g) leftover after the Sunday lunch, and there is little to zero chance to make something in the forthcoming 3 days that may require this ingredient…
Do not worry, but look around. If you happen to have the same amount of basil, or a small bush that you grow in the kitchen window or on the terrace, you are already on the safe side. If you do not, then you can buy fresh basil in small quantities, as it is – for some unknown reason – also considered as spice, thus is available in the 100g box (unlike ruccola). And here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
100 g ruccola
100 g basil
2 pieces of garlic
2 tablespoon of parmesan cheese (ground)
2 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoon of roasted almond (ground)
salt, pepper, as per your taste
Preparation:
Put all these into a food processor and process it until you get a relatively homogeneous texture. It shall not be perfectly smooth, as small solid parts make it more credibly home-made like. Keep it in the fridge, until you plan to use it. You can store it relatively long, thanks to the olive oil and the salt.
What to use it for? Well, it depends on the quantity you produce. This amount may be enough for 2 portion of pasta, but also for 1 huge pizza, if you have sleepover kids announced only in the afternoon. You may also use it for adding a little more taste to burgers, and also meat that goes into the oven.
Do not be afraid of finding your own way of utilizing it. The best thing is that it may never taste the same, if you change the proportion of the ingredients a bit or add other green leaves, like baby spinach. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to increase the proportion of ruccola, as it has a very dominant, mustard-like taste.
Enjoy, and do not forget to tell us how you liked it.
