Small Bites

Daniela Sepulveda of Montebello is among the first entrants in the Locally Grown recipe contest.
Her recipe, Zucchini Pesto Sauce, uses zucchini and basil from her garden. What started out as a way for her to sneak vegetables into her children’s diet has turned out to be a family favorite.

What do you think of her recipe? Click below to see it and rate it. The author of the readers’ favorite recipe will receive a cookbook at the close of the contest.
And why not enter the contest yourself? Go to lohud.com/locallygrown to fill out the form.

Zucchini Pesto Sauce
4 homegrown zucchini, peeled and sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 homegrown garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons of prepared Basil Pesto
Salt to taste

In a medium-sized saucepan, cover the bottom with extra-virgin olive oil. Heat the oil and add zucchini, onion and garlic.
Once all of the ingredients have sizzled a bit, cover and reduce the heat to a low flame and let it cook until the zucchini has almost melted. Turn off flame and let it cool until it’s warm. With a handheld blender or regular blender, purée all of the ingredients together and add salt to taste. Add about a tablespoon of pesto to the mixture and serve with pasta or rice.
Basil Pesto
2 peeled and quartered garlic cloves
20 almonds, divided
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 hearty bunches of homegrown basil, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Put all of the ingredients in a blender, beginning with half of the basil and half of the olive oil. Pulse until the basil and almonds are chopped and continue to add all of the basil until you are done. Once all of the ingredients are chopped up, purée so as to reach a creamy consistency. If you see the mixture is dry, you may need to add more olive oil until it’s moist.
Put the mixture in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
You may want to halve the batch and put one container in the freezer for future use.
When ready to use, just put over drained pasta or rice or you may use it on chicken breast or pork.
— Daniela Sepulveda