5 Nut Pesto

Sometimes an idea is so good, you wonder why didn’t someone think of it sooner? The other night, our friends John and Libby handed us a jar of pesto that they had made that day. John did it old skool style: in a mortar, by hand.   Now, I’ve always been a food processor girl, but the taste and texture difference was significantly better than blender style. Damn. Now that I know this, you can’t go back…
What made this pesto so intriguing was that they used 5 different kinds of nuts. Now, I haven’t seen them today to ask, but I’m guessing the nuts were: pistachio, pine, hazlenut, almond and walnut. There was a bit of chili in the pesto as well, which gave it a brighter flavor, and this in turn, enhanced the sweetness of the pistachios.
I poached some shrimp in olive oil, added it to the pesto, and we had ourselves one outstanding dinner last night.
Grazie mille John and Libby!!