Squash Blossom Pesto With Roasted Pine Nuts (Wow)

We are big fans of pesto and squash blossoms. Combining the two into a Squash Blossom Pesto is a home run. We have an excellent supply of blossoms at our Farmers Market Stand right now. This bright yellow Pesto is great with a small or thin pasta like linguine, angel hair or gnocchi. Try it on bread as a bruschetta or on your favorite pizza instead of a tomato based sauce.

Squash Blossom Pesto:

3 tablespoons pine nuts
A pinch of tumeric
2 cups loosely packed squash blossoms (10-12 blooms, a small bag at our stand)
1/3 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano cheese
1/2 cup extra virin olive oil
pinch of salt.

Directions:

1. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet until lightly brown. Don't burn.
2.  Remove any stems, stamens or hard leaves under the blossom. Drop into food processor and pulse 2-3 times to break up the blossoms. Add the nuts, the cheese, and tumeric. Pulse until everything is chopped. Turn the machine on, drizzle olive oil in slowly. Scrape down the sides as needed. In your cheese is salty go easy on the cheese.
3. Transfer the pesto to an airtight container and drizzle a very thin layer of olive oil over the top. You can store in the refrigerator for 3-days. Makes 1/2 cup.
4. If you want to freeze some leave out the cheese.