Basil Pesto sauce

Basil Pesto Sauce

Topping up Pesto before Storing

Fresh homemade pesto from freshly plucked Basil leafs has great flavor and color. I had grown a Basil plant in a pot in my balcony, and the seeds were transported to other pots by wind thus it was like basil basil every where filling my balcony with fragrance. I used it in salad, mushroom baked sandwiches, pasta etc. They would start making appearance in abundance so I decided to make Pesto. After using bottled pesto from market I realized the difference between homemade pesto from garden fresh Basil and the bottled one from market. The addition of few walnuts gives a wonderful earthy taste. I just love this Pesto.

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

Making Time: 10 minutes

Makes 400-450 gm of Pesto

Ingredients Required for Making Pesto:

• 100-120 Fresh basil leafs.

Fresh Basil Leafs

• 8-10 pods of Garlic.

Garlic

• 10-15 Almonds.

Almonds and 

• 4-5 Walnuts.
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste).
• 100 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for Pesto sauce.
• 10-15 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for topping up.

Directions For Making Basil Pesto:

• Remove the stalk from leafs.
• Roast Almonds and soak them in water.
• Once almonds are soaked remove the peel (Brown covering) from roasted, soaked almonds.
• In a mixer-grinder take Basil leafs and grind them thoroughly.
• Add
• Garlic
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Salt
• Grind. If required very little amount of water can be added to make a fine paste.
• Add half the amount (50ml) of olive oil slowly to the paste along with pulsing the paste in mixer. Do not run the mixer at high speed. Otherwise the color of Pesto will become foamy and whitish.

Thick Pesto Paste

• Remove the paste in a big bowl and add the remaining 50 ml of olive oil along with mixing with the help of a spoon.

Pesto After Adding Olive oil

• Fill the container in which you wish to store the Pesto with your freshly made Pesto sauce and top it up with 10-15 ml of olive oil.

Topping up Pesto before Storing

• It lasts for months in freezer and in fridge at least for 6 months, but I bet you it will finish before that long. For experimenting I kept some amount in a little bottle but after 6 months my patients gave way to polising it off.

Tips:

• Make sure the smallest stalk is removed for best texture.
• Garlic can be adjusted according to taste and the size of pods.
• More Almonds can be added if one wishes but do not add more walnuts, they may leave a little bitter taste if added in excess.
• Do not add excess of water, else the Pesto sauce will become runny and no one wants runny Pesto. One or two teaspoon will be enough.
• Suggested Variations: None.

Mushroom Paneer Grilled sandwich

Mushroom Paneer Toasts with Tomato sauce

Cottage cheese is high in calcium and protein. And mushrooms are high in protein and Vitamin A. When paneer is mixed with mushrooms it makes excellent filling for toasted sandwiches.  Breakfast should never be taken just because it has to be taken; a nourishing, nutritious, less oily breakfast is the apt way to start the day. Healthy yet tasty,light yet filling and nutritious, these sandwiches are very good for breakfast, snack as well as lunch box of school going children. So next time you want to give pleasant surprise to your children just make these crunchy juicy mushroom paneer sandwiches and serve in breakfast or pack them in their lunch box.

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 30 min.

Servings: 8 – 10 Sandwiches

Ingredients Required For Making Mushroom Paneer Toasted Sandwiches:

• 1 Bread

• 250 gm. Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

Paneer

• 8 – 10 Large mushrooms

Mushroom

• 1 Small Onion

Onion

• 4 -5 Cloves of garlic 

Garlic

• 1 Green Chili

Green Chilies

• 1/2Teaspoon Red Chili Powder

• Salt to taste

• 3 – 4Tea spoon Olive oil / Butter or any cooking oil

Directions For Preparing Mushroom-Paneer Sandwiches:

    Step1. Making Filling of Mushroom and Paneer:

• Wash and towel dry Mushrooms.

• Crush the mushrooms to small pieces.

• Cut Paneer to pieces.

• Mash the paneer pieces.

• Cut onions finely.

Finely cut Onion

• Cut garlic finely.

Cut Garlic

• Cut Green chili finely.

• Tale 1 ml. oil in a wok and heat

• When hot lower the flame and add finely cut onion.

• Cook with continuous stirring for 2 min. (the color of onion should become transparent)

• Add finely cut garlic and cook for just one min. with regular stirring.

• Add mashed paneer and cook for a 2-3 min.

• Add crushed mushroom and bring the flame to high.

• Mix nicely and cook for 2-3 min. with continuous stirring.

• Add

• Salt

• Green chili

• Red chili powder

•  Mix nicely

• Bring the flame to high and cook with continuous stirring for 1 min.

• Remove from gas and take out in a bowl and allow it to cool. (The mixture of filling should be removed just when the mushrooms start leaving water in wok)

Mushroom - Paneer filling for sandwiches

Step2. Making Sandwich:

• Sprinkle 2-3 drop of oil on both side of sandwich toaster.

Toaster heated with 2 drops of olive oil on each section

• Heat the sandwich toaster.

• Take a slice of bread on a plate and scoop 2-3 tea spoons filling on it.

• 

Bread Slice with Mushroom Paneer mix

• Place another slice on it.

Second slice put to cover the slice with Mushroom Paneer mix

• When the toaster is hot then place this sandwich in a toaster.

Sandwiches of Mushroom Paneer mix kept on hot Toaster

• Toast for 2 min.

•  Open the toaster and sprinkle 3-4 drops of oil, close the toaster and toast again.

Sandwiches being toasted

• Toast the sandwich till brown and crisp from both sides. (It should take 5 min.)

• Take out hot mushroom-paneer sandwich and serve with tomato sauce.

Mushroom Paneer Toasts with Tomato Sauce

Tips:

• After adding mushrooms cooking should be done on high flame.

• Do not cook for too long after adding salt.

• Do not mash mushrooms, crush them to small pieces.

• If you find mushroom juices coming out too much add make crumb from one slice and add to the filling. (1 /2 tea spoon stored dry bread crumb can also be added)

• The toasted mushroom paneer sandwiches taste best if made in olive oil or butter.

Suggested Variations:

• Onions and garlic can be avoided and replaced by 1 tea spoon cumin seeds.

• Oregano / basil/parsley can be added to the filling to give different flavor to the sandwich.

• Finely cut coriander leaves can be added to the filling.

Finely cut fresh coriander sprigs

• Instead white bread brown bread or multi grain bread can be taken to increase the nutritive value of sandwich.

• For oil less sandwich, use nonstick toaster.

• Edges of bread piece can be cut. The edge pieces can be sun dried and made to crumbs and stored in dry container for future use,