My mint was looking long, leggy, and desperately overgrown yesterday. I decided to cut it back and see what a mint-basil pesto tasted like. To my surprise, I thought it was a refreshing alternative to our traditional pesto genovese.I used about a cup of mint leaves and a 1/2 cup of basil, and substituted walnuts for the pine nuts I normally use. My garlic was very fresh and came from Tony, the garlic guy, at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market. I used a very good quality extra virgin olive oil, and of course, a combination of parmesan and pecorino romano cheese.Although it had a distinctly different taste than my usual pesto genovese, it paired very nicely with the Greek entree I prepared as a main course.
Give it a try! Pesto doesn’t have to be all about basil. Bo bold!! There are a lot of interesting herb combos that could lend an interesting twist to your next dinner.
