Bruschetta & Crostini (p. 83-83) w/ Pesto Topping (p. 27)

I had been craving pesto for the past week, so I knew I wanted to make something with pesto for this week's recipe! I flipped through Bittman, and found a bruschetta recipe, and thought I could just use a pesto topping for that. I went to Lund's by my house to buy a few ingredients I didn't already have; and just in time, as the cashier informed me that I could get an additional baguette for free- buy one, get one free past 7pm! Not to mention they were freshly made, warm from the oven. So I got two fresh, warm, and crisp baguettes for the price of one. Moreover, since a little box of pine nuts was $14.99, I decided to sub out the pine nuts for another nut (pecans)- a little trick/fun fact I learned from Jenny during lab! The bruschetta turned out absolutely amazing, I think it is my favorite thing I have made yet this semester- and my friends agree!

INGREDIENTS: Fresh baguette, basil, garlic, pecans, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt.. I also had already a few diced tomatoes in my fridge that I used to top the bruschetta (not in picture)

 

 

PESTO: I added the basil (2 cups), chopped pecans (2 tablespoons), olive oil (3/4 cup), garlic (4 cloves), and a dash of salt, and blended them all together in my hand blender...

The basil and pecans were being stubborn and not blending as finely as I would have liked with my hand blender... But nonetheless, it tasted great! Once, I blended the ingredients together, I let it sit in the fridge for a bit while I cut slices of the baguette, and then I mixed in some Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup) to the pesto (see below)

Once I cut the banquette, I lathered the extra virgin olive oil onto both sides of the slices, and sprinkled one side with chopped garlic and sea salt. I grilled each side for about 1-2 minutes on medium heat, until each side was crisp!

The end product was AMAZING! I will definitely be making this again SOON :)