Shishito Pepper Basil Pesto
It is that time of year where our refrigerator is filling up with gallon bags of harvest like okra, peppers and more. It reminded me that, although I’ve made plenty of basil pesto, I need to get busy before the basil gets hits with the cool night temperatures and whip up some Shishito Pepper Basil Pesto!
You know I love to play around with pesto renditions like my Kale Pesto that I used to stuff my Kale Pesto and Mushroom Stuff Porterhouse Chops.
If you’ve not grown shishito peppers, they are fantastic producers, even going strong all summer when the extreme heat hits here and the others stop.
We love them cooked traditionally like this, rubbed with olive oil, charred on the grill or the stove top, and sprinkled with sea salt and togarashi seasoning. If you don’t know what togarashi is or where to find it, you can order it online or find it in your favorite Asian market or even make it yourself! It’s basically a dried assortment of peppers, citrus peel and spices that is really good on grilled shishitos, avocado toast and more! It’s not overly spicey at all, but the flavor is yummy!
But to avoid burn-out, I wanted to try my hand at something else with them, and I thought about pesto. Wouldn’t it be good to jazz up some Shishito Pepper Basil Pesto?
It was and here is the recipe! Use it just like you’d use basil pesto for a lively kick!
- 3 c. fresh basil leaves
- 1 c. fresh shishito peppers de-stemmed
- ½ c. parmesan cheese
- ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
- ½ c. walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ t. Kosher salt
- ¼ t. fresh cracked pepper
- Add peppers, basil, walnuts, garlic, salt and pepper to food processor. Pulse about 5 times.. Turn processor on and slowly drizzle olive oil through hole in top of processor.
- Add in cheese and pulse 5 times more.
- To store, drizzle thin layer of olive oil over top of pesto.
- Can freeze up to one year.
