Afghan Pesto

Submitted by bluemoon downunder

"Ready to try a new pesto recipe? Looking for a culinary adventure? This quick to prepare and easy recipe is from the uktv FOOD website. I ran into difficulties in posting it recipe, because of the 2 "handfuls" listed in the ingredients as the required number of peanuts! I have converted this to 1/2 cup, so if you prefer to add "2 handfuls", go for it!. Then - in view of the options provided - I puzzled over what cuisine to list it under. The closest I could get was to classify it as Iranian/Persian, an approximation at best! So if precision is essential to you, this recipe is probably NOT for you, but if you're prepared to try something new, you might like to try it!"

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup raw peanuts, toasted
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cardamom pod, cracked, seeds only
• 1 lime, juice of, only
• olive oil, for mixing
• 2 aubergines, sliced

directions

1. Put the coriander, peanuts, cardamom seeds and lime juice in a blender or food processor and process until chopped and combined.
2. With the motor running, drizzle in olive oil until the mixture has the consistency of a soft paste.
3. Chargrill the aubergine slices on both sides on a griddle or chargrill pan until nicely coloured and tender.
4. Spread a little of the pesto over the warm aubergine slices and serve.

Reviews

[Gaia22]

I enjoyed the flavors, however the texture was too gritty for me and I really don't think I used too many peanuts based on that flavor. Although having said that, next time I will probably use a little less peanut to improve on the texture. At first it was 'missing' something. I ended up adding almost about 1/4 tsp of salt and it perked right up (& I am usually a low-salt kind of cook)! Since cardamom is expensive and I already had ground cardamom, I had to decide on a conversion. This proved a bit difficult (lots of rules of thumbs for conversions, however how many pods are in a 1/2 tsp?) but I finally decided on, and used, 3/8 teaspoon ground cardamom. The pesto went really well on the eggplant. I just grilled plain eggplant on my George Foreman grill. Only Made 1 eggplant - freezing the rest in an ice cube tray for individual portions to test it's OAMC viability too. Next time, I might try a little bit of fresh mint blended in the pesto too. Thanks for posting; It really hit the spot for something new! [Made & reviewed for the Newest Zaar Tag] UPDATE: The leftovers the next day were not so good, in fact, I ended up discarding it, which I really hate to do. The pesto flavors didn't get better & meld in the refrigerator - the cilantro just took over. Also, the freezing does not seem to be a big success. All in all, a bit disappointed and I must bring this down to 3 stars as I probably will not be making this again anytime soon. Thanks for the food adventure though - I was really excited to try this so it was still a lot of fun!