When you buy bunches of coriander without a plan because they looked fresh and tempting, what do you do with them? You can only use so much in rasams and we are really tired of the coriander chutney :) As much as I resist from buying coriander, ever so often, I give in and buy bunches of these. I am in a quandary as I don’t like wastage. This was till I had a light bulb moment, and decided to make coriander pesto. I followed the basic pesto sauce recipe - blend the greens with nuts, add olive oil, salt and pepper. This was my first attempt at making pesto and couldn’t believe how amazingly simple this was.

Coriander Pesto


Take about 2 cups of coriander and 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts. Blend them well with about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. That is it, the sauce is ready. To give it a slight twist, I added a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and liked the sweetness it added to the sauce.

For the pasta, thinly slice onions, bell peppers (green, red) and green apples. In a non-stick skillet, cook these veggies along with sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli florets with a teaspoon of olive oil, till they are cooked but crunchy. Then, add the pasta (cooked till al dente), the pesto sauce and about a laddle-ful of the cooked pasta water. Let it simmer for a min or two. Voila! Pesto Pasta is ready!

Did I tell you that I don’t shy away from buying coriander anymore? :-)