Sour Cherry Pesto Two Ways: Delicious on pasta or on bruschetta!
Sweet + salty + spicy = sensational! Let me tell you, kiddies, this is a spoonful of Pucker Power! There is no doubt about it. This is a lip-smackin’ toe-tappin’ little taste o’ somethin’ somethin’ that you will not be able to put your finger on until the jar is empty, and maybe not even then.
But, you will be motivated to try. What is this? What is in it? Mmmm! Salty. Sweet. A hint of spice. Sticky, yet smooth. A punch of garlic. Nutty? Cheesy? The flavours pop on the top of an extra olive oil laden crispy crunchy garlic slathered bruschetta!
The flavours dance and enhance the romance tossed in a bowl of hot steamy pasta.
And who would have thunk it? A round pesto plunk worked in a bit o’ spunk and a sour cherry truffle emerged from the kerfuffle!
This is really delicious, but probably best spread on a cracker. It is dense and intense. Addictive and descriptive. The dried sour cherry with the dried black olive cured in salt and oil is the perfect combination. One part olive and two parts cherry blended well together creates a thick moldable consistency easy to shape into balls. I also though about shaping the mixture into a log, rolling it in cheese and wrapping it with fresh basil leaves. That would be beautiful sliced. And tasty! It could be studded with pinenuts and garlic bits. There really is no end to what one can do with this flavour combination.
Mis en place, above: fresh basil, fragrant and fruity Parmesan, tender toasted pinenuts, thick green-hued extra virgin olive oil, dried sour cherries that have been minced, sun dried salt cured black olives that have been pitted and minced, garlic and hot pepper flakes.
All ingredients into the Thermomix or your blender. Pulse until you get your desired consistency. Use less oil for a spread. More for a pasta topping.
Dried sour cherries are a dark brown red, but their flavour is as bright as their candy apple red color when fresh on the tree and super rich in Vitamin A. The dried Montmorency tart cherry is the one I used for this recipe and even dried, they are known as a new superfruit. Did you know that? This is the same with my Evans Cherries. I appreciate that I can use these year round, frozen in my freezer, preserved (the way only I do them), and dried. Every recipe I have made using the sour cherry is scrumptious. Seriously. My Sour Cherry Pinterest Board is below.
A gorgeous garlic bruschetta is the perfect foundation for this pesto as an appetite whetting appetizer. The olive oil and garlic on the bruschetta enhance the sour cherry pesto. This tiny dried bobble packs one powerful punch and my very last cherry was hanging from my tree as I created this recipe. The sour cherry harvest season is over, but enjoying these little ditties is a year long party! My Pucker Power Series 2014 includes three recipes because tart is trendy. Did you know that? Yes siree! The public is choosing tart over sweet and spicy. This recipe fits that craving to a T!
And, incredibly enough, foods that have you pucker up like the sour cherry are almost always good for you. Another little known fact you are now learning here. A sour taste is often a cue for phyto-nutrient compounds inside of the tart food which are thought to include health protecting qualities. Good food is always the best medicine. Good, homemade food.
Garnish with basil and cheese, all dressed up for the party, and good to go!
A little Potted Sour Cherry Pesto, here. Great gift giving idea, if I may say so myself. I have my own Evans Sour Cherry Tree. I preserve my own cherries. I did use the dried sour Montmorency Sour Cherries for this recipe as they sell them at Costco and my preserved cherries have a sweet and sour kick. They would be delicious in this recipe, too!
Even with the olives and the Parmesan, you will need a little finishing salt to bring out the sour cherry flavour. Don’t forget that part. Taste it with and without.
Above, is the last fresh Evans cherry from my tree this year. Perfect for a little decorative hit. Ragan, my daughter, is hard on me, always. She gave this spread a 9 out of 10.
When I was working with the ingredients, I discovered that the cherry and olive mixture was moldable, so I made a sour cherry truffle. Yup. Just for fun! And, it was pretty tasty, too. Better as a spread, but a spark of inspiration that I think will go somewhere as I incubate the idea.
Rolled in grated Parmesan, and chilled, it was tasty!
And the pasta? Simple. And delicious. Ragan gave this an 8 out of 10 and was completely enamored by the curiosity of the perfectly balanced flavour combination. What is it? What is it?
It is delicious! That’s what it is!
And novel. And versatile. That’s what it is. Try it! Tell me all about it. I would love to hear your responses. The recipe is below. Scroll down.
Many more sour cherry recipes can be found on my site (see my Pinterest Board, below) or at Choose Cherries!
Follow Valerie’s board Sour Cherry Season and Recipes on Pinterest.
The Grand Prize Tart Cherry Giveaway from The Cherry Marketing Institute
representing Canada’s tart cherry growers and processors!
The giveaway includes the following:
Tart cherry juice
Dried tart cherries
Le Creuset Cookware SetLe Creuset Silicone Cooking Tools SetAnthropologie Apron
Announcing the Winner for the Cherry Marketing Institute Giveaway August 28 to September 15, 2014.
Congratulations to Lori L @Miss_Elles!
This is an incredible prize. You have been contacted by me already, and the Cherry Marketing Institute has been given your e-mail address and will be contacting you for your mailing address to make arrangements to send this prize to you! Would love a photo of you with your winnings to add to this post! Oh-la-la!
Disclaimer: Have you figured out that this is a sponsored post, yet? It is. Thanks to the Cherry Marketing Institute for the opportunity to develop these recipes and introduce my readers to my Pucker Up 2014 Series.
Yield: 4 C
2 cups dried cherries
½ cup whiskey
½ cup water, hot
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup pecans, toasted
½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, shredded
Kosher salt, as needed
Cherry Pesto Method
Combine cherries, whiskey and hot water in a small saucepan and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat to cool, then pulse in a food processor with oil and pecans, then combine with Parmesan and salt.
– See more at: http://www.australian-goat.com/Foodservice/Culinary_Center/Recipes/Lamb/Cherry_Pesto_Lamb_Burgers/#sthash.Cfbf0Cpl.dpuf
Yield: 4 C
2 cups dried cherries
½ cup whiskey
½ cup water, hot
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup pecans, toasted
½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, shredded
Kosher salt, as needed
Cherry Pesto Method
Combine cherries, whiskey and hot water in a small saucepan and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat to cool, then pulse in a food processor with oil and pecans, then combine with Parmesan and salt.
– See more at: http://www.australian-goat.com/Foodservice/Culinary_Center/Recipes/Lamb/Cherry_Pesto_Lamb_Burgers/#sthash.Cfbf0Cpl.dpuf
Pucker Up Series 2014: Sour Cherry Pesto
Ingredients
- 40 g dried black olives , pitted and minced
- 10 g garlic cloves , minced
- 80 g dried cherries , minced (blender works)
- 5 g fresh basil
- 50 g Parmesan Cheese
- 60 g or more flavourful extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon dry pepper flakes
- 50 g pinenuts , toasted, extra whole for garnish, optional
- finishing salt: white a Fleur de Sel
- Bruschetta or pasta
Instructions
-
Mix all ingredients together, except for the whole pinenuts; check the seasoning
-
Add whole pinenuts just before serving; spread over crackers or toss with hot homemade pasta
-
Either way - scrumptious
Recipe Notes
To make the pesto runnier, add more olive oil
To make the pesto chunkier, don't blend as much
To make Sour Cherry Truffles, simply mix 40g pitted aged olives with 80g dried sour cherries (or a 1:2 ratio) and puree, roll into balls and in grated Parmesan Cheese; refrigerate well before serving
Totally fabulous, Valerie! Just pinned it, can’t wait to try it!
Let me know what you think when you do!
🙂
V