First Post: A Pesto Quest(o)

Hello blogosphere!


This is my first of what I hope will be many posts. My name is Cait and I'm a recently kosher (~2 years) cook and eater. I moonlight, between cooking sessions, as a law student in the Boston area. I am currently writing from my satellite location in Washington DC, where I am working for the summer (and where I am originally from). To learn more about me, click here.


Recently, I invited a bunch of friends, including a couple MOTs (that's members of the tribe, for those of you in my non-existent viewing audience) out to my parents' shore house in St. Michaels. And, of course, when you go to the beach, what do you want to make? Pasta salad. And what is the perfect pasta salad? Cold Caprese Pasta Salad (recipe below). And what does kosher caprese salad require? Kosher mozzarella and kosher pesto.


There in lay my dilemma, gentle readers. Kosher mozzarella is actually pretty easy to come by - I use Trader Joe's, which has a Tablet-K hechsher for both its large balls of mozzarella and its medium-sized balls ("ciliegine"). So, that was easy enough.


However, the pesto proved particularly problematic. If you buy commercially-made pesto (in a jar or from the deli counter at Whole Foods or TJ's, as I discovered), it is made with regular parmesan cheese, which contains treif animal-derived rennet. Sabra makes a nice pareve pesto but none of my local grocery stores stock it.

Thus, I headed to KosherMart (WHY do they not have one of these in Boston???) in search of kosher pesto. I was brutally rebuffed (though did find a nice kosher Australian Sauvignon Blanc). So, I decided to make my own (see recipe below - both pareve/vegan and kosher-dairy variations). In addition, I've included my pasta salad recipe. Happy eating and Shabbat Shalom!

Kosher Basil Pesto

1/3 cup kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup kosher Romano cheese (I used Miller's Romano - it comes pre-grated and it has more "bite" than parmesan, IMHO)
2/3 cup pignoli (pine nuts), lightly toasted (in a dry skillet over med-low heat)
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and checked for bugs (can also use Sabra frozen basil cubes, about 2 packages)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper (about 5 turns of my pepper mill)

In a food processor or blender, pulse the pignoli, garlic, cheese, basil, salt and pepper until combined. Add about half the oil and blend the ingredients together until a smooth paste forms (adding more oil as necessary).

To make pareve/vegan, omit the cheese and increase the salt from 1/4 to 3/8 tsp.

Cold Caprese Pasta Salad

1 lb short pasta (I use penne or shells)
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 handful (about 1/2 cup) sundried tomatoes, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 16-oz container fresh mozzarella (I use TJ's ciliegine, but large balls cut into pieces or smaller "perlini" would also be good)
1 cup Kosher Basil Pesto
1 tbsp kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste.


1. Boil a large pot of lightly salted water and cook pasta. During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the sundried tomatoes to soften. Drain and return to pot to cool, ~20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain the red peppers and mozzarella. Roughly chop the peppers into ~1" squares. If using large balls of mozzarella, chop into 1/2"-1" pieces.
3. Toss olive oil into pasta to coat slightly and season lightly with pepper (reminder: you already salted the pasta water, so don't add salt at this point). Gently blend in pesto, tossing to coat.
4. Add cheese and peppers, tossing again until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Taste, then salt if necessary.

Enjoy!