Mom’s Zucchini and Tomato Medley with Lemon Olive Pesto

Growing up, my mother’s kitchen was a haven of delicious, home-cooked meals, crafted mostly from instinct rather than recipes. Her vast cookbook collection was a treasure trove, but our daily meals came straight from her heart and experience. As a vegetable enthusiast, I always loved her zucchini and tomatoes, a simple, soul-warming dish. When I moved out, I asked for the recipe, but she had none. She described it as best she could, and I scribbled notes, only to lose that precious slip of paper.

 

This summer, harvesting my first zucchini brought those memories flooding back. Determined to recreate her dish, I leaned on fresh ingredients and added a 21st-century twist: lemon olive pesto for a bright, zesty kick. While my mother wouldn’t have used pesto, its vibrant flavor turns this dish into something special. This Zucchini and Tomato Medley is a nourishing, meatless main or a cozy side, perfect with toasted rustic bread or croutons. It’s simple, fresh, and full of love.

Zucchini and Tomato Medley with Lemon Olive Pesto 

  2 large zucchini 
  5 large basil leaves 
  ½ onion, thinly sliced 
  2 c. chopped peeled fresh tomatoes (or one 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes) 
  1 c. water 
  1 t. sugar 
  1 t. kosher salt 
  1 Melissa’s dried chile de arbol or pinch of red pepper flakes (adjust to taste) 
1 T. lemon olive pesto 
  Parmesan cheese, for serving 
  Toasted rustic bread slices or croutons (optional) 

Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, then crosswise into ¼” thick half-moons. 

Stack basil leaves, roll tightly, and slice into thin strips. 

In a large saucepan, combine zucchini, basil, onion, tomatoes, water, sugar, salt, and chile or red pepper flakes. 

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, until zucchini and onion are tender.  

Stir in lemon olive pesto. Check occasionally, stirring to prevent liquid from evaporating completely; adjust heat if needed. 

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.

Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature, over toasted bread or croutons if desired. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  

This dish is a heartfelt nod to my mother’s cooking, blending nostalgia with a fresh, modern twist. It’s simple, versatile, and perfect for summer harvests.

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Lemon Olive Pesto

I don’t know what’s happening at your house, but it is pesto season at mine. The basil that I planted in the spring has grown by leaps and bounds and is ready for harvest. I have a lot of new pesto recipes to try, but thought I would start with this one. It is adapted from one that I saw on the Melissa's website. I’ve never made pesto without including Parmesan cheese, so was curious as to whether or not this would be as rich and delicious as other pesto that I’ve made. It was! The citrus juice and peel gives it a wonderful brightness, the olives a magnificent, buttery depth. If you like olives as much as I do, you may want to make a double batch.

Lemon Olive Pesto

 8 oz. Castelvetrano olives, pitted

½ c. fresh basil leaves

½ c. flat-leaf Italian parsley

½ c. walnut halves

1 T. organic capers, rinsed

1 lemon, juiced and zested*

¼ t. kosher salt

½ t. red pepper flakes

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

 Place all ingredients EXCEPT oil into the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until combined. With motor running, slowly add oil until combined and desired texture is reached.

 *Zest before juicing

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Small Batch Basil & Sunflower Seed Pesto

I was reading an article the other day about the fragrance that the largest numbers of people consider to be their number one, and that was vanilla. I can’t say that it is not high on my list, but, in my case, my number one most favorite fragrance is that of pesto in the making. There is something about basil being whirred around in a food processor that makes me positively heady. August is the time of the year when there is much pesto making at my house. Because I make it in small batches, and because I always have a good bit of basil growing in my deck garden, I tend to make it once a week. I ran myself out of the nuts that I generally use, so this time decided to make a rather bold (at least I thought it was bald) substitution in sunflower seeds. I absolutely love the result! I also like the fact that sunflower seeds are something I can grow on my own so that next year I will have not only fresh basil, but fresh sunflower seeds as well, making this dish nearly fully organic, and cost-effective at the same time. If you haven’t tried it, you absolutely must!

Small Batch Basil & Sunflower Seed Pesto

 6 cloves garlic peeled

¼ c. roasted, salted sunflower seeds

½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

½ t. kosher salt, more or less

3 c. fresh basil leaves, packed

1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Few gratings freshly ground black pepper

¾ c. good olive oil

 Place all ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil in a small food processor and pulse until blended. With the machine running, add the oil in a fine stream. Process until pesto is smooth.

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Broccoli and Basil Pesto

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Over the course of our lives, we all fall victim in one way or another to a good sale. I recently fell victim to a broccoli sale. Yes, you read that right, broccoli. What can I tell you? It was a great deal. Little did I realize how far that 2-pound bag of broccoli florets would take me. You are the winners here because I did end up with some unique and wonderful recipes that I would encourage you to try, although unlike me, not in four days of succession. We won’t even go there.

The first that I’m going to share makes use of fresh seasonal basil as well as broccoli. This is so good that I was, quite literally, eating it with a spoon. Who needs pasta when you have something this tasty? Aside from a quick blanch of your florets, this goes together in a flash.

Broccoli and Basil Pesto

1½ c. broccoli florets*
1 c. packed fresh basil leaves
2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t. lemon zest
2 large garlic cloves
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated black pepper, be generous

Bring a rather large pot of boiling water of water to a boil and add florets. Allow water to return to the boil, and boil for 30 seconds. Immediately empty into a strainer to drain, and then flip into a waiting pan of ice water to chill in order to stop further cooking. Drain and place in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients, and process until smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little more olive oil, if it’s too thin, add a little more Parmesan cheese.

*These don’t have to be small, mine were large. Don’t trouble yourself to break them down into tiny bits.

 

 

Pistachio Pesto

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 I had some pistachios left over from the Pistachio Dream Pie and wanted to put them to particularly good use because those things don’t come cheap. I was in the mood for pesto so figured, why not use them instead of my usual walnuts or pine nuts? I was also low on fresh basil, so made up for it with baby spinach. This is a winner! I saved some of the crushed pistachios to sprinkle on top, gave it a bit of a squirt of fresh lemon juice, and it was some of the best pesto that I have ever eaten.

 Pistachio Pesto

 1/3 c . shelled pistachios
2 cloves of garlic
½ c. grated Parmesan
1 c. packed fresh basil
1 c. packed fresh baby spinach
¾ c. olive oil

 Place all ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until a paste forms. If the pesto looks a bit dry just add some more oil. Keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. Freezes beautifully.

 

Pesto Cucumber-Avocado Soup

Remember last week when I told you to be sure to make the Lemon Basil Vinaigrette because you would need it again? If not, go back and look, I’ll wait. Here’s the reason that you need it, to add a wonderful fresh pesto taste to this delicious cold summer soup. There is nothing better on a hot day than a cup of cold soup, and this one is cooling, refreshing, loaded with nutrition, and lots of flavor. It’s like summer in a cup.

Pesto Cucumber-Avocado Soup

1 large, ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

1 large cucumber, unpeeled, and cut into large chunks

1½ c. homemade chicken stock (canned, if you must)

1 Melissa’s shallot, quartered

2½ T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. fresh lime juice

½ c. plain Greek yogurt

¼ c. Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

Pinch Kosher salt

Pinch red pepper flakes

Place avocado and cucumber into a large capacity food processor fitted with a metal blade, and process until smooth.  With machine running, gradually pour chicken stock through feeder tube; process until smooth.  Add shallots, citrus juices, yogurt, Lemon Basil Vinaigrette, and process until combined.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Chill for at least 2 hours (the longer the better). To serve, ladle into cups or bowls and top with basil chiffonade, croutons, or drizzles of the vinaigrette.

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Pattie’s Fresh Basil and Walnut Pesto

Last week my nephew called and asked if he could have my recipe for pesto. For the first time ever he has a small garden, and decided that he wanted to grow basil and make his own. I sent him this recipe, along with the link to this food processor (a relatively inexpensive, yet reliable machine of slightly smaller capacity), telling him that you must have a food processor in order to make pesto, and, indeed, you do! But, the expenditure, and storage space, is well worth it for something as delicious as this. If there is something that beats fresh pesto in the fall, I’d like to know what it is. I hobbled out into the open portion of my deck this morning (Did I mention that I broke my toe? Yeah.), and gathered up half of the basil. Later on, just before frost, I’ll retrieve the rest so that I can make my final batch of the year.

As I told my nephew, I don’t have a recipe, per se, just toss things together until, as my grandmother used to say, “it looks right.” I did manage to jot down what I do, and here it is. This is so good that I don’t even need pasta, I could eat it right out of the bowl.

 

There are many ways to get creative with pesto. I will stir it into mayonnaise to use a sandwich topping, put a dollop on top of soup, add some to chicken salad, or blend a healthy amount into softened unsalted butter to then spread on thick slices of French bread topped with grated cheese and run onto the broiler for a minute or two. Heaven! 

Pattie’s Fresh Basil and Walnut Pesto

2 c. packed fresh basil leaves, washed and thoroughly dried*
1/3 c. roughly chopped, toasted walnuts
1 large garlic clove
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan
1 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ t. kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon Melissa’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning
1/4 - 1/3 cup good olive oil**

Place all ingredients EXCEPT olive oil into the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until thoroughly ground and paste-like. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until it reaches desired consistency. Taste for additional seasoning.

*I use a salad spinner for this
**More or less to reach desired consistency

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If pesto is not your thing, this One-Pan 30-Minute Pasta Alfredo is sure to please.

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Over the Moon

Smells Good Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Full Plate Thursday

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