Over a mint pesto
Grab your friends and blow their minds with this appetizer. This elevated lychee scented salsa, which can also amp up desserts or main courses (think chicken or pork) is perfect stuffed inside roasted jalapenos, and served over a minty parsley pesto, shown here. The mint echoes the floral notes of the lychee, but also creates the perfect one-bite sensation.
Recipe Credit: Camine Pappas. To read more about how Camine created this recipe and her the entire blog post on this subject, click here to visit her website: IFeelLikeCooking.com.
INGREDIENTS
SALSA:
- ½ cup English cucumbers, peeled and diced
- ½ cup red pepper, diced
- ¼ cup shallot, diced
- ¼ cup flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 naval orange flesh, diced
- ¾ cup cooked shrimp, dices
- 1/3 cup strawberries, diced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 tablespoons OliveThis! Kaimana Lychee White Balsamic Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Olive This! Single Varietal Olive Oil, mild intensity
PESTO:
- 1 large tightly bound handful of mint leaves
- 1 large tightly bound of Italian parsley
- 1 large clove garlic, chopped in half
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons Olive This! Single Varietal Olive Oil, mild intensity plus another 3 or 4 tablespoons to add later
- 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano reggiano cheese (I use a zester so it’s light and fluffy and blends well)
JALAPENOS:
- 10 large jalapeño peppers with stem
- ¾ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 3 tablespoons Olive This! Single Varietal Olive Oil, mild intensity, to moisten
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 475° F.
Wash jalapeños. Laying sideways, cut off the top of the jalapeño, like you’re cutting a lid off and reserve the cut pieces to use in another recipe. Scrape out the sinews and seeds until they’re hollow. Rub with oil. Place in a parchment lined glass dish and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Set aside to cool. Do not remove from baking dish. (You’ll be melting cheese in the peppers later.)
In a small food processor, add the mint, parsley, garlic, salt & pepper, olive oil, and cheese. Pulse to blend well into a semi-fine puree, stopping and scraping sides and adding more oil as needed. Set aside and keep in fridge until time to serve.
In a large glass bowl, add all the salsa ingredients except, the olive oil and balsamic. Keep the salsa refrigerated until are almost ready to serve.
About 30 minutes before serving, go back to the jalapeños that you’ve left in the baking dish, add grated mozzarella cheese to each hollowed out pepper, and broil under a low broiler setting until the cheese begins to bubble and slightly brown. Remove.
Remove the salsa from the refrigerator and add the olive oil and vinegar, mixing well.
To plate, smear the mint pesto on the serving dish of choice. Arrange the cheese-stuffed peppers over the pesto. Then using a small spoon, ladle in a generous portion of the shrimp, strawberry and lychee salsa piling it high. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve.
Excellent with a crisp Viognier!
©Recipe and Photo Copyright Camine Pappas, 2013-2023. All rights reserved.
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