Cilantro and Basil Pesto with Gnocchi

I just wrapped up my garden not too long ago as we have been hit with cold weather in Wisconsin. It’s sad in a way because all of us that live here know what that means. Winter is on its way. We had a really successful harvest this year, which was awesome. In the last few years I found myself heading to the farmers market every Saturday morning, but not this year. We had an abundance of tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, beans, watermelon, strawberries, and fresh herbs. It was excellent to say the least.  This year I had a huge plant of basil, and as I was looking at breaking it down, I immediately knew what I was going to make; pesto. With that said I also realized I had a bunch of cilantro, which I normally do, and decided to make a combination of cilantro and basil pesto, only to be used with gnocchi, one of my wife’s favorite dumplings.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of cilantro, rinsed and cleaned
• 1 cup of fresh basil leaves, cleaned
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup of roasted almonds
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Homemade or frozen gnocchi, cooked

To a blender, or food processor add the cilantro, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, almonds, and parmesan cheese. Blend until you have a smooth sauce. If you want a thinner sauce, drizzle in more olive as you are blending the ingredients.

To the warm gnocchi, take a tablespoon or so and begin mixing it into the gnocchi until you have a nice, well incorporated blend.

The end result is everything you love about a basil pesto with a great vibrance of the cilantro. The cilantro really adds a great pop to the pesto. Give this one a shot and let me know what you think.