Small Batch Rosemary Pesto with Creamy Aged Manchego

There’s something particularly lovely about small batch dishes.

Whether you’re making them for two or just for you, small batches feel personal, purposeful, and completely authentic.  Small batches aren’t for impressing a crowd or participating in a half-hearted potluck, they’re for celebrating beautiful food in deliberate doses, a mix of careful execution plus mindful usage.

Small batches are about your individual wants, needs, and available resources.  They’re delightful, the world needs more of them, and I’m bringing you one right now.

In my day-to-day life the world of small batch cooking is key to my existence, and anyone with a ravenous carnivore for a mate can definitely understand this struggle.  Dave nearly demands meat at every meal, so our dinner persuasions tend to branch in opposite directions – Whereas I’m on a continuing, mostly-vegan kick, Dave’s preferred consumption of meat and dairy carries on.  So with our dueling diets creating a financial and time-management conundrum, I’ve found myself increasingly relying on small batch solutions to address our ying and yang cravings.

Making exact purchases of meat from a butcher rather than buying it pre-packaged by the pound, seeking out the tiniest wedges of cheese and later shredding them myself, and buying veggies in low volume + high repetition have all been wildly helpful adjustments.  But the biggest change I’ve made is learning to use what’s on hand to create small batch successes, and that’s how this pesto was born.

After putting my gardening shears to excessive use one afternoon I found myself with a bundle of basil leaves, a handful of rosemary sprigs, and no clear usage in sight.  Part of me figured I’d just use them for garnish over the following days, but that was an unsatisfying prospect – My garden bounty is a TREASURE, not an afterthought (duh), so this initial solution just would not do.  So I hemmed and hawed over what the hell to do with this random amount of greenery, dramatically fussing through my cabinets and complaining out loud to no one in particular.  Then I opened my July bon appetit, and immediately knew the answer.

I’d make pesto, small batch pesto, and it was going to be freakin’ fabulous.

Bon’s wonderful “Pesto, Change-O!” article provides delicious inspiration for unique, creative pestos, and luckily I had pretty much everything I needed on hand.  The truth is I could have made a big ‘ole batch of this pesto if I wanted to – my garden is plush as hell – but given my current small batch kick I liked the idea of making something scaled and precise.  Doing so made sure nothing would go to waste now or later, so it seemed like the best of both worlds.

With rosemary, basil, pignoli nuts, olive oil, and lemon at my disposable, a tiny purchase of manchego was all my pesto needed.  I really can’t say enough good things about aged manchego without wailing at my cheese-limited existence, but seriously – If you haven’t had aged manchego before, you are missing out on something incredible.  It’s a beautiful semi-hard cheese that’s subtly sweet yet still sharp and earthy, it’s really something special and you should try it immediately.

Also, get me a tissue.

Used in this pesto the manchego creates a creamy taste and consistency that I’ve never experienced in a pesto before, it was downright delightful.  And the rosemary?  The rosemary!! It adds an undeniable freshness that made this pesto truly cool and crisp, I felt revitalized just from the tiniest taste of its fragrant magic.  And of course like all pestos, this sauce is as versatile as any:

Drizzled onto ahi tuna tacos?  Obviously you should.

Slathered on sizzling flank steak?  Dave totally approves.

Smeared on veggie flatbreads when you’re kinda cheating on your vegan kick?  IT HAPPENS.  Don’t judge me.

Using your fingers to lap up the last few licks?  It’s only natural that you do.

And becoming a tenured, small batch devotee?  With a sauce like this, how couldn’t you be?! x

Small Batch Rosemary Pesto with Creamy Aged Manchego

Yield: 1/2 cup Pesto Sauce

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 15 mins

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Fresh Basil Leaves, packed
• 1/3 cup Fresh Rosemary, packed
• 2 tbsps Pignoli Nuts
• 1/4 cup Manchego cheese, grated
• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• squeeze of Lemon (approx. 2 tsps)
• Sea Salt & Coarse Black Peppercorn to taste

Directions:

1. In food processor combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Store in refrigerator in air-tight container (I used a Ball jar) for up to one month.

small fo’ life.

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