Green Chile Cilantro Pesto

Name: Green Chile Cilantro Pesto
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 5 cups
Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups new mexico peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped (Anaheim Chile); 1 1/4 cups fresh cilantro leaves (1 large bunch); 1 teaspoon lime zest; 1 tablespoon lime juice; 1 cup pine nuts; 1/2 cup olive oil; 4 garlic cloves, peeled; salt; 1 cup parmesan cheese (of a mixture of both) or 1 cup romano cheese, grated (of a mixture of both)

Submitted by PaulaG

"This is no ordinary pesto! This is pesto New Mexico style. Recipe comes from Real New Mexico Chile Cookbook by Sandy Szwarc. Hope you enjoy it!"

Download

photo by Sharlene~W

Ready In:: 15mins
Ingredients:: 9
Yields:: 5 cups

ingredients

3 ¹⁄₂ cups new mexico peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped (Anaheim Chile)
1 ¹⁄₄ cups fresh cilantro leaves (1 large bunch)
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup pine nuts
¹⁄₂ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
salt
1 cup parmesan cheese (of a mixture of both) or 1 cup romano cheese, grated (of a mixture of both)

directions

In a blender or food processor add the chiles, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, nuts, olive oil, and garlic.
Puree until amost smooth. Stir in the grated cheese, taste and adjust salt to taste.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

This is SO good! I love pesto, and cilantro makes a very special and different pesto. We had it over pasta, but I can see many possibilities with this recipe. You have so many good recipes, PaulaG. Thanks!

TxGriffLover
What a fantastic idea! I got a panini maker for Christmas and tagged this recipe in Zaar tag because I thought it might be good on a roast beef panini with some asiago cheese. I had a difficult time getting cilantro because of a recent freeze here in California. As a result, I only made 1/4th of the recipe (yielded a little over 1 cup). The flavor was absolutely wonderful. I can really see the possibilities. It was great as a dip with tortilla chips (kind of like a flavorful guacamole), the roast beef sandwich was heaven...I even think it would be tasty on pasta or toast triangles. Highly recommended (5 cups would be a lot though!).

Sharlene~W

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

PaulaG

Hixson, Tennessee

I came to this site in March of 2004. It was then called Recipezaar. This site was the first on-line site that I ever joined. I first popped in 2003 while searching for a Peach Cobbler Recipe. In March of 2004, DH was having shoulder surgery and I was looking for a Split Pea Soup. Once again I found myself on Zaar as it came to be called. Over the years I hung out and learned from some of the best home cooks in the country, I posted over 700 recipes on the site, reviewed over 3500 recipes and posted over 3000 food photos. Over the next 10 years the site made many changes and in 2010 it was sold to to Food Network and became Food.com. Until last year we played games, talked and shared with one another. As a result of the community and the relationships I built I got to meet some wonderful people from all over the country. I also have a great number of friends that I have never meet face to face. Some of us still hang out at various places across the net. Zaar was more than a cooking community. It was an internet community of friendship. Life is an adventure ever changing.

View Full Profile