Mozzarella pesto red pepper panini with pesto, sun-dried tomato bean soup

 Pandemic pesto. That's what happens when you can't get your usual supply of herb plants early in the season in the middle of a pandemic, so you just combine whatever is in need of trimming that week and make pesto.

I've always made a variety of pesto types, mostly based around one herb type, or at most a combination of two. But necessity led me to discover that basil, dill, parsley and a small amount of volunteer coriander yield a spectacular pesto. It varied a bit each time, but it was always so tasty.

Whatever we didn't go through in a week went into a small container in the freezer. As we slog through winter and I dip further into the freezer reserves, it was time for this pestolicious meal.

 

Pressed mozzarella sandwiches
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Everyday Food November 2003

Ingredients
Sliced country style bread
Fresh mozzarella, sliced ⅜-inch thick (an 8-ounce ball yields about enough for 2 sandwiches
Roasted red peppers, drained and sliced in strips (figure about half a pepper per sandwich
Pesto or tapenade (½ tablespoon or so per sandwich)

Method
Lightly oil one side of each bread slice. Place oil side down on a plate. Spread a single layer of mozzarella on the bottom bread slice. Top with pesto, then red peppers, then another layer of mozzarella. Top with remaining bread slice, oil-side up. Heat in a panini press until cheese has melted. (Lacking a panini press, you can cook sandwiches in a skillet, weighing down the top with a smaller skillet and then flipping over to brown the other side.)

Rating: Fast, tasty, very repeatable. Amazing what a half tablespoon of really good pesto can do for a sandwich.

 

Bean, sun-dried tomato and pesto soup
From the "Cook’s Encyclopedia of Four Ingredient Cooking" by Joanna Farrow. If you're only using four ingredients in a recipe, it's best if each one of them pulls their weight. But in this recipe, the pesto pretty much does the talking.

Ingredients
2 cans cannellini or other white beans
3 ¾ cup broth
4 tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
3 tablespoons pesto

Method
Put beans, broth, tomato paste and pesto into a medium sauce pan and heat through. Transfer 6 ladles’ worth of broth/beans into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Return to pot and cook until warmed through.

Rating: If you've got a really good pesto, you'll have a good, quick-fix soup that's pantry friendly. I probably wouldn't serve it to company just because it's not the lookiest soup, but it's flavorful. It's got a good blend of chunky beans and creaminess from the pureed beans. Pairs perfectly with the panini.

Note: If you don't have a tube of sun-dried tomato paste on hand, you can make your own with drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.