Pesto – the ultimate sauce you can use in everything Italian from salads to pastas to pizzas. But what if there was a Korean version of it for Korean-influenced dishes?
There is! The perilla leaf pesto. Koreans are starting to make this at home, but I have yet to find a recipe I resonate with. Thus, I have created my own. The basics of the original pesto will stay, but we are replacing basil with perilla leaves, a little bit of the olive oil with perilla seed oil, and the pine nuts with cashews.
Cashews are so creamy when blended, and it smoothens the sharp and unique taste of perilla leaves. If you love pesto and you love Korean food, you can’t just leave without trying this recipe out!
- Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup toasted cashews
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic, or 2 garlic cloves
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon perilla seed oil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 40 sheets perilla leaves
- Recipe:
- blanch the perilla leaves in boiling water for about 5 seconds – it will keep the color bright and green
- run the leaves under cold water to stop them from cooking further, and leave them to dry on a paper towel
- pulse together the cashews, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a food processor until finely chopped
- add the perilla leaves and pulse until the leaves are finely chopped as well
- add the parmesan and the two oils
- blend until smooth
blanch the perilla leaves in boiling water for about 5 seconds – it will keep the color bright and green
run the leaves under cold water to stop them from cooking further, and leave them to dry on a paper towel
though it’s best to pulse the ingredients little by little, my food processor broke so I just blended everything all at once!
still came out nice though (:
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