Garlic Watercress Pesto -Samuel

There's about 98123 different ways of making pesto, and each of them have different occasions in which their strengths are underscored. The word pesto essentially means to pound or crush, although we in our contemporary age most commonly process the ingredients in a rotational motion rather than crush them in pestle and mortar.

Traditional (classic is possibly more apt) pesto's main ingredients are basil, garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts, and they are blended with Parmesan cheese when the pesto is ready to serve. The classic combination never really goes wrong, but you'll notice in this recipe that I used a few different ingredients and proportions to make this pesto work. 

Why? One, pine nut prices are incredibly steep, and as college students I'd say most of us are pretty broke. Instead of PINING for those nuts, I substituted them with other nuts. Two, I love garlic, and both roasted and raw have their place. Three, I discovered a fairly awesome vegetable called watercress.

What's watercress? It's a rather leafy vegetable with a slight peppery flavor, and it's also known for being incredibly nutritious. It's similar to arugula, but there's no CRESSTION that it deserves a place of its own.

This is such a simple recipe that anyone could make it at home (with a food processor or pestle and mortar. Might be hard otherwise).

Garlic Watercress Pesto (Difficulty: Easy)
Servings: about 2 cups of pesto
Time spent: 10 minutes
Cost: ~$5
Ingredients:

• 2 cups packed watercress (if you don't want to do watercress, just replace with basil)
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 6 cloves raw or roasted garlic, raw for lighter pesto, roast for richer
• 1/2 cup nuts, I used a 3:1 ratio of cashews to Brazil
• 1 cup quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

When serving:

• 1 cup Parmesan cheese or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste, minimal since Parmesan is salty and watercress is peppery

Directions:
1. Place watercress, basil, garlic, and nuts in the food processor. It'll look like it's super stuffed but when we process it, it'll reduce to less than a quarter of its original volume. Pulse them a few times.

2. Your mixture should look like this (picture below). You can see that it looks pretty chunky and dry. Just drizzle in your olive oil and lemon juice while mixing and you'll see it change texture and smooth out.

3. Your final mixture should look like this. A lot of people like oilier pesto and you can choose to do that too, but I rather like a pesto I can smear onto a nice baguette without getting oil all over my fingers.

Yum, watercress pesto! Make sure to mix in your grated Parmesan cheese when you're ready to serve, or put a layer of oil on top and then freeze it. Feel free to pair up with bread, pasta, sauces, whatever suits your fancy. :)