Sorrel Pesto

Sorrel Pesto:
This recipe calls for garden sorrel that is a perennial herb that can be cultivated as a herb or a leafy vegetable. It looks like a large pale green spinach leaf and tastes lemon-y. It can be used fresh added to lettuce or spinach salads. It can be cooked and added to soups or other dishes for flavouring. I live in zone 4 for gardens and it produces abundantly each year. You can cut it back to a few inches off the ground and it will grow again and again in the same season. I found this recipe at RecipeSource.com in the summer of 2010 and have used it as a pasta coating and a thick sauce for fish.

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh sorrel, ribs removed
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor or blender puree the sorrel, the parsley, the garlic, the parmesan, the pine nuts and the oil, transfer the pesto to a jar with a tight fitting lid and chill it, covered. The pesto keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 weeks. Makes about 1 cup.
I usually make a double or triple recipe at a time. Then I pour the pesto into a flexible plastic ice cube tray, cover it and put it in the freezer. After it is thoroughly frozen I package the individual cubes in freezer baggies, ready for individual use.
To use the pesto as a thick sauce for fish: You can use this sauce for cooking pretty well any kind of filleted fish. I prefer it with salmon or rainbow trout. It is also good with white fish, such as tilapia or filet of sole. Depending on the size of the fillet of fish, I usually use one cube per fillet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the fish in a baking dish and spread the top of filet with fish sauce. Bake uncovered. The time will vary according to thickness of fillet. For 1-2 serving size, bake between 12 and 15 minutes.

To use the pesto as a pasta sauce: For every pound of dried pasta cooking in a kettle of boiling water, stir together in a heated serving bowl 3/4 cup of the pesto and 2/3 cup of the hot cooking water. When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander, add it to the pesto mixture, and toss the mixture until the pasta is coated well. Vermicelli works very well with this recipe.