This recipe took me one year to make. Correction, I have known about this recipe and I was scared to try it. Let me be honest. I am not a great cook. I can follow a recipe and usually the food turns out fine, but I am not an avant garde chef like some people… like the person who created this tasty recipe. She calls it Jalapeno oil, but when I made it the consistency reminded me of the pesto I make each summer so I am calling this Jalapeno Pesto. Whatever you want to call it it is a game changer for all sorts of Mexican food. Drizzle it over fish to make fish tacos, toss it with grilled chicken or steak for fajitas or just serve it in a bowl and let people dip into it with chips and veggies. So back to why I put off trying this recipe. I was shown how to make it, but there were no exact measurements given. A little of this, a dash of that which is great for someone who is not a type A, but I am the baker-sort who knows that if even the teeniest measurement is off in her baking, you might as well throw out the whole batch. It’s a little hard to let go of that when I cook, but I am slowly getting better.
This is the perfect recipe to just have fun with it. I started with the basics which is jalapeno peppers, garlic, green onions and some vegetable oil. Another “aha” moment when I was learning to make this is you don’t need to use the more expensive olive oil, vegetable oil does the trick. Season with salt and pepper and you’re done. You could also add a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice or grate in some lime zest and some chopped cilantro. This mixture will have a nice kick to it, but if spicy is not your thing you could always remove the seeds and the pith (white membrane inside) from the jalapeno to make it mild.
Jalapeno Pesto
Ingredients
3-4 jalapeño peppers, roughly chopped and seeded if you prefer this less spicy
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
3 green onions, roughly chopped and discarding the very end of the greens
vegetable oil
salt and pepper
Directions
1. Add first 3 ingredients to a food processor and puree.
2. With the processor on, add the vegetable oil through the top starting with 1/4 cup and adding more until it is the consistency you would like it.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Thank you to Georgette for showing me to how to make this stuff. I hope my memory served me well. 🙂
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