A simple and versatile recipe that you can serve with:
egg fritatta and omlettes (dollop on top!)
crackers, toast, or rice cakes for a snack
crusty bread, veggie crudites, or crostinis as an app
pasta - cook and drain your favorite cooked pasta, adding a little reserved pasta water to thin it out, with halved cherry tomatoes
We recommend seeing if you can find a probiotic, not pasteurized, 2% or 4% cottage cheese to make this healthy-fat, high-protein recipe. We often leave the garlic out of this recipe, but follow your heart and taste buds!
For a spicy, Middle Eastern-inspired version, make it with our Zhug Pesto instead. The pesto/herb variations on this recipes are endless, see below for more ideas.
INGREDIENTS
3 Tbsp walnut pieces (a nice handful)
1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered, optional (or try a few Tbsp chopped chives)
1 large bunch fresh basil leaves, picked from stems (about 1+ cup loosely packed)
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp Lisbon Lemon EVOO
1/4 cup classic EVOO, such as House Blend or Olio Santo
16 oz cottage cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a food processor or blender, add in this order: walnuts, garlic, basil leaves, grated Parmesan cheese, then Lisbon Lemon and classic EVOOs. Pulse briefly and then blend, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
Remove a few spoonfuls of the pesto in a small bowl, then add cottage cheese, blend to combine and whip to desired consistency, scraping down the sides as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, swirl with the remaining pesto, and serve.
If making a few hours or even a day in advance, the reserved pesto will not retain its brilliant green color, so we often just mix in all into the cottage cheese in that case, and when serving, drizzle with a little extra EVOO for garnish.
VARIATIONS:
If you don't have Lisbon Lemon EVOO, sub in freshly grated lemon zest from 1/2 to 1 whole lemon, adding more classic olive oil in place of the lemon oil.
If making the pesto on its own for another use (pasta, rice or pasta salad, or to spoon over grilled chicken or fish), you might find you want more olive oil, and to add the salt and pepper directly.
Sub other herbs in for the basil or do a combo: this is also great with parsley and cilantro, and smaller amounts of dill, tarragon, and/or mint.
Make it extra Basil-y or Lemon-y by using more/all Lisbon Lemon EVOO or Basil EVOO.
Make it spicy by adding a splash of Jalapeno or Habanero EVOO.
