A couple weeks ago I opened the fridge to find some lovely fresh herbs that were in danger of rotting. Being too lazy to make a pesto, I turned instead to its simpler—and easier—cousin, pistou.
Traditionally, pistou is made with just basil, olive oil and garlic. In my case, I didn’t even want to peel and chop garlic, so I modified things even further:
Mary’s Modified Fresh Herb Pistou
Step 1: Chop Nuts
- 2 Tbsp. pecans
Place nuts in the chopper attachment of immersion blender and chop until fairly fine, but with a little texture.
Step 2: Process Pistou
- ~ 1½ cups fresh herbs, e.g.,
- 1/3 cup oregano, big stems removed
- 1-2 tsp. thyme (stems removed)
- 1 cup parsley (chopped roughly, stems can be included)
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil (or more for a thinner, smoother pistou)
- 1/4 tsp. salt, more or less to taste
- Freshly ground pepper (or cayenne pepper), to taste
Combine herbs, oil, salt and pepper in the blender and process to reach desired texture (see Notes below.)
Chunky or Smooth? I went light on the olive oil, leaving my pistou a little drier and chunkier. You can certainly use more oil to make your pistou thinner and smoother–which is actually more traditional.
Other Herbs Experiment with sorrel (2-3 leaves), fennel fronds (up to 1/2 cup), and maybe 1-2 tsp. of tarragon. Of course traditional basil can be used in season when it isn’t so expensive.
What To Do With Pistou Like pesto, pistou can be used to:
- Top stews and soups
- Dip bread
- Dress a salad
- Add interest to plain fish, shellfish, chicken and meat
But One of the Best Uses for Pistou? JAZZ UP VEGETABLES!
This continues the theme of a previous post, sharing Roasted Garlic Sauce as another super easy pick-me-up for veggies.