I'm in love with this Cilantro Pesto!!!

Ok so I admit I have a love affair with pesto sauces especially home-made ones!
I usually wait for a good price on a big bunch of fresh basil leaves and for publix to have their olive oil on BOGO (I love BOGO!!!) to make pesto. My husband is not to keen on it so I don't get to make it very often. But today I had some left over cilantro to use up. I had already frozen what I could and had a small bushel left that desperately needed to be used up. I LOVE cilantro and don't want to waste any if I can help it. As I was looking through my old summer (I sort them by date)magazines I noticed a page on pesto..."ping" (that's the sound of the light bulb going on in my brain) I don't know why I never thought of this before...making pesto out of cilantro...wow super excited now! and OH MY WORD this pesto is to die for! I am sooo in love ;-)

If you are a cilantro fan and have never tasted cilantro pesto you are in for a treat! I used walnuts and pine nuts because I love the flavor of those, but you can use whatever nut you have in abundance in your cupboard This recipe would make a great dip if added on top of softened cream cheese, or if added to pasta, mashed potatoes or even as a sandwich spread (I'm thinking grilled chicken pesto pita's mmmm)
here is the recipe and definitely try it if you like pesto!

Cilantro Pesto 

Printable version

Ingredients

• 5oz  fresh cilantro (about 4cups packed)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 4 cloves roughly chopped garlic
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the cilantro. Roughly chop the cilantro into big sections. Put the cilantro, oil, garlic and nuts in a blender or food processor.
2. Blend until smooth. This will require turning off the blender a few times to smush things down. 
3. Pour into separate bowl and mix with cheese, add salt and pepper.Taste and adjust seasonings. 

I use this pesto stirred into pasta, on pizza, and over fish and chicken. Mix some into cream cheese for a dip with crackers or just eat it with a spoon. Delicious. It freezes very well, too. There will be some oxidation on the top surface but it won’t hurt anything-just stir it in when you are ready to use it. If it bothers you, pour a thin layer of oil over the top before storing the pesto.

Enjoy!