Walnut Pesto

Sometimes things don’t always go as we planned. I had planned to watch “The Wizard of Oz” at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I had even called all my friends, cooked up some recipes, scheduled a time to meet, loaded up the car and driven all the way to Hollywood just to have a picnic in the cemetery. However, when we turned the corner and were preparing to enter, we were met by this:

The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but basically the entire city of Los Angeles had the same thoughts that we had. And unfortunately for us, they had the idea about an hour sooner, and we didn’t make it inside. Yeah, it was a bummer. There are few things sadder than having a picnic meal and nowhere to picnic.

Luckily, I’m blessed to have flexible and endlessly enthusiastic friends. We took our picnic dinner and headed to a teeny tiny park in Universal City. We sat on blankets and drank wine, ate our food and watched the sunset go down. It was good, even without the red slippers or munchkins.

There was one thing that turned out exactly as I had planned. This walnut pesto. It was just as tasty, satisfying and unique as I had been hoping for. My photos of the final product I feel are a tad lacking, I’m going to blame the change of venue on that, although it could have just as easily been the wine I was drinking. Wine or no wine, this is a great spread to have for your next picnic.

Walnut Pesto

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Print this recipe!

1 cup shelled walnuts, even better if you toast and cool them first
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
3 sprigs of thyme, cleaned
Salt
Small splash of red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced sun-dried tomatoes (oil or dry-packed will both work)
1 loaf or baguette of crusty bread, sliced and toasted.

Combine walnuts, parmesan, garlic, thyme, salt and vinegar in a food processor and coarsely grind. Stir in the olive oil and tomatoes. You may need to add a little extra oil if your tomatoes aren’t soaked in oil.
Spoon the pesto over the toasted bread. Spread a blanket on the ground and have a picnic.

Tagged as: Cheese, Nuts, Tomato