I'm in Idaho. I should probably start each post with an update of my locale.
I've had a Utah, Idaho adventure this Thanksgiving. First with my sisters, and then the Jimisons.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at our friend Kyoung's house!
I was assigned a vegetable and a dessert, and the first thing that I thought about when pondering my vegetable was the "Roasted Pumpkin, Arugula Pesto, Hazelnuts" dish that we ate at Tom Douglas's restaurant, Serious Pie in Seattle. Ever since we ate there, I have been thinking about that dish! So I decided to remake it.
Instead of Pumpkin, I used some locally grown hubbard squash, and every store in town was out of arugula, why? The infamous arugula hoarders of Rexburg strike again! So, Allen drove all the way to Idaho Falls, to get some. Also, nowhere can you find shelled hazelnuts... so we filled a paper bag full, and cracked them, peeled them, toasted them, and cut them in half. It was an all day affair. No one minded.
Making pesto with arugula was very interesting and super good! There is still a little pesto leftover in the fridge, and the color hasn't changed! With a basil pesto, within a day it starts to change colors because the leaves are bruised... that was cool. Also, the peppery flavor is a nice compliment to the mild flavor of the squash, and the sweet hazelnuts.
here's the recipe!
Arugula pesto:
- 8oz washed arugula
- 2 cloves roughly chopped garlic
- 1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons water
in a blender or food processor, add olive oil, garlic, parm. cheese, and hazelnuts. Chop, or pulse. Add Arugula, and blend, or continue to pulse until it's a paste! If the mixture is especially thick, in a slow stream add water until you reach your desired consistency.
A note of experience. I highly recommend using a food processor for any kind of pesto. Using a blender can be a bit tedious, unless you have a crazy powerful blender, you're going to be reaching in there and stirring it, trying to get everything to hit the blade... I only say this, because I have a tedious blender.
Roast any kind of pumpkin or squash that you want. Just make sure you peel it. I cut mine in half moons for a nice presentation. Also, I used a little olive oil, paprika, and pepper. You salt it, when it comes out of the oven, because if you add salt in the beginning, it's going to pull out the moisture, and you will have a harder time getting them to really get brown, and roast. In addition, don't crowd the pan.
The presentation is simple. You just put the squash down on a platter, and spoon the pesto over it. You top it with more parmesan, and halved toasted hazelnuts.
It's a dream, and a big hit. It's good served warm or cold. It can even be made vegan by replacing the cheese with 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes.
Tomorrow, I will share with you my Champion Chocolate Orange Cheesecake recipe.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Were there any stand out dishes at your meals?