Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Goat Cheese Crostini

A few weeks ago I took a cooking class at Whole Foods in Minneapolis.  It was such a different experience than the class I took at Cooks of Crocus Hill, but the recipes were just as fantastic.  The class had about 6 people and we all sat at a counter while the instructor cooked right in front of our eyes.  Each of us had the opportunity to participate, which really meant adding pre-chopped ingredients to a pan or stirring!  But it was still a lot of fun and I left with some great cooking tips and a packet of six new and dazzling squash recipes.  This week was my first attempt at recreating one of the recipes: pumpkin seed pesto.  The pesto is nutty and flavorful, and it has a deeper flavor than your traditional pesto. 

In class, we used the pesto to complement a butternut squash soup (excellent idea!), but it would pair equally well with some cooked pasta and chopped basil.  Or you could feature this pesto in my eighth appetizer dish of the season!  (I'm giving myself until the New Year.....not sure if I'm going to make it!)  I ate these crostini for dinner the other night and they were soooooo gooooooooooood.  The biting flavor of the goat cheese paired insanely perfectly with the mellow pesto.  A sprinkling of freshly grated pepper and you will wow your friends with this great app!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto & Goat Cheese Crostini

for the pesto:

Ingredients

1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or as much as needed)*

Directions

Chop up the pumpkin seeds and walnuts in a food processor.  Add the cheese and pulse until finely chopped.  While the processor is on, drizzle in the olive oil slowly until everything comes together into a loose paste consistency.  Taste and season accordingly.

for crostini:

Ingredients

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

1 large Italian baguette, sliced into 1-inch slices

6 ounces of plain goat cheese

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Toast the baguette slices on one side for about 5-8 minutes, or until the exposed side is just getting crisp.  Remove from oven and let cool so you can handle the bread.

On each slice (the toasted side), spread on a layer of goat cheese, a little less than a tablespoon's worth.  Then top with a dollop of the pesto.  Sprinkle the crostini with freshly cracked pepper. 

Serve and enjoy!

*A quick word on the oil.  The original recipe from my class called for pumpkin seed oil in this recipe.  When I went to buy it at the store, I discovered that it's about $20 for a small bottle.  Sorry, but that is so not going to happen!!  Later, I realized that walnut oil would probably make a great substitute, but by that time I'd left the store and was set on using my standard olive oil.  You lose some of the depth of nutty flavor by substituting olive oil, but I still liked the floral sweetness that the olive oil brought to the pesto. 

Sixth Day of Appetizers: Vegetable Spring Rolls

I know, I know...it's December 21st and I'm only on my sixth appetizer. I blame a wicked bout of food poisoning this weekend that thwarted all of my plans to cook, bake, and be merry. Seriously. Food poisoning is one of the worst ailments I could be afflicted with! FRUSTRATING! I'm trying to get back on my feet so I decided to post an appetizer recipe that my friend and I made at the appetizer "party" we had a few weeks ago.  Spring rolls are really fun to put together -- you can make them with whatever vegetables you prefer and because the skins are quite translucent, you can use the veggies to make pretty patterns on the outside of the spring rolls.  This appetizer could be a great, fresh starter for a heavy holiday meal.  Or you could serve these spring rolls as part of a New Year's party platter.  Either way, yum!

Crisp Vegetable Spring Rolls
makes about 8-10 spring rolls

Ingredients
1 package of spring roll skins
1 package of very thin rice noodles (sometimes called vermicelli noodles or rice sticks)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
2 avocados, cut into thin slices
1 bunch of cilantro, washed and stems removed
1 English cucumber, cut into matchsticks
2-3 limes
1 cup of crushed peanuts

*You could also use red or yellow peppers, Thai basil, a dash of soy sauce, or anything really!

Directions
Prepare all of your veggies so the spring roll assembly will be easy and quick!  Cut the limes into quarters so they are ready to squeeze.  Prepare the noodles according to the package directions, then rinse under cold water and set out next to the vegetables. 

Prep the spring roll skins according to the package directions, which usually requires you to soak the skin briefly in warm-to-hot water.  I use a pie pan to soak the skins in; that way you don't have a greater risk of tearing or otherwise messing up the spring roll skins. 

Once the skin has soaked, place it on a flat surface and assemble your vegetables.  Start with some avocado, then noodles, then carrots and cucumbers, and top with cilantro leaves.  Then squeeze a bit of lime juice over the veggies and sprinkle some peanuts on top.  Roll up the spring rolls like an egg roll, but be sure to do it super tightly!  Repeat until done!  You can serve the spring rolls in their entirety, or cut them into smaller pieces. 

We taste-tested the spring rolls with a peanut sauce I found on the blog Two Peas in Their Pod.  I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I changed it around a bit!  All you need for this sauce is:

Ingredients
Freshly grated ginger to taste (about a tablespoon suited my tastes)
2 cloves grated garlic
2/3 cup water
½ cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1½ tablespoons sugar 

Directions
Heat the water over medium heat, then add all of the ingredients and whisk together well.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. If the sauce doesn't thicken, whisk for one minute over medium heat.  Pour into a dish and serve alongside the spring rolls!