Lazy days are coming! And with them come the days in which we just want cheap and fast-making pasta, but we are so tired of the same tomato-based sauces. Or maybe you just want to add a punch of flavor to a dish without spending hours on it.

I’ve got your back covered with (what else?) 2 PESTO RECIPES.

Maybe most of you already know how to do the most well-known basil + parmesan + pine nuts pesto. But did you know that you can basically make pesto out of anything?

Well, not anything. Delicious ingredients yes. Soil, rocks… don’t think so.

But put just a few ingredients together and you’ll get 2 amazing pestos. Watch my mini-recipe video below:

The word pesto is actually there to describe a sauce made with a bunch of ingredients crushed together.

The most popular pesto recipes are Italian, of course, but nowadays you can find different twists of it like this Mexican-inspired Cilantro Pesto:

This is my favorite one, I must admit. I think of it as a Mexican spinoff, and one very well done! Among the pesto recipes I’ve tried, and after made many weird experiments, this is by far the best. I’ve been using this Cilantro Pesto in pretty much everything: eggs, pasta, salads, sandwiches, tortillas, bread, potatoes, meat.. It’s so multi-faceted!

Let’s not forget to honor the classics though: I discovered this magnificent Pesto alla Calabrese (or just Pesto Calabrese) and went through many articles and recipes (many in Italian – io parlo italiano… solo para mangiare!) to discover its essence.

This creamy pesto gets its richness from the ricotta cheese and its spiky flavor from the grilled peppers and chili pepper mix.

You should seriously try both of these pesto recipes though,  so you can feel the array of different flavors that can make your mouth dance of joy…and this only using a couple of ingredients!

Pesto Recipes – Cilantro Pesto & Pesto Calabrese

Prep time: 15 min    Cooking time:  10 min    Total time: 25 min

—> For preparation steps for both pesto recipes, see the Cilantro Pesto and Pesto Calabrese – La Cooquette Mini Recipes video I posted above!

Cilantro Pesto ingredients

(makes 1 ½ – 2 cups of pesto)

• 3/4 cup almonds (slivered, skinless, toasted)
• 2 cup cilantro, large stems removed (1 bunch of cilantro)
• 1/2 cup grated cotija cheese
• 3 garlic cloves
• ¾ cup of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 2 lemons)
• pinch (1 tsp) teaspoon salt

Pesto alla Calabrese ingredients

(makes about 2-3 cups of pesto)

• 1 plum tomatoes
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• 3 tbsps of Parmesan cheese
• 2 red bell peppers, in julienne cuts
• 2 small shallots, in julienne cuts
• 1 tsp of chilli pepper flakes
• 3 garlic cloves
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 1 tsp salt