Toasted Pecan Pesto

Toasted Pecan Pesto

In the words of the great Bob Ross, this was a happy accident that more or less just happened due to a variety of factors. I won’t go into details other than to say that this goes really well on a holiday platter but, I’ll be perfectly honest, it looks like shit no matter how you garnish it. But it’s delicious and people have requested the “recipe” even though I just kinda pulled it out of the air on the fly.

Another thing you need to know is that there’s no basil in this and a lot less oil than a traditional pesto

Typically this is made in a robo coupe but I like doing things by hand.  By all means, do what works best for you.

Mise En Place

  • Knife and Board 
  • Oven at 420
  • Saute pan
  • Sheet tray

Ingredients

  • One pound of sweet peppers
  • One large clove bulb of garlic 
  • About two cups of Pecans 
  • Cooking oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste. 

MOP (Method of Preparation)

  • Clean and deseed the peppers
  • Clean the garlic but leave whole (it’s fine if it’s crushed but no need to chop it) 
  • Place the garlic and peppers on the sheet tray and lightly coat with oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. You want the skin to turn and shrivel but not burn so keep an eye on it. 
  • While the peppers are in the oven, heat a pan on Medium-High and add the pecans with just a little oil. Toss a few times until they start to turn color slightly, it doesn’t take a lot of heat so be careful.
  • Let the peppers and Pecans cool for a few minutes then place on a clean cutting board and get to chopping. It’s going to take a while for you to get a smooth consistency so just keep at it and use it as a chance to hone your own knife skills. 
  • Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Notes

  • No one was more surprised this worked than I was but the flavor or the toasted pecans really comes out in this. Served during the holidays it’s a new take on a familiar ingredient. 
  • This was my first run at it and there are a lot of ways to play with the concept such as changing the kind of nuts, peppers or the addition of other seasonings 
  • While I don’t use a lot of oil with this, I try to avoid Olive Oil due to it having a strong flavor and go with coconut oil instead or even bacon grease if you’re not vegan. 
  • Oh yeah, this is totally both vegan and gluten-free now that I think about it, proof that if cooked right it doesn’t have to taste like shit. 

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