During the summer months I grow a lot of different varieties of extremely hot peppers, so I’m always looking for ways to put them to use. While I’ve never seen a recipe like this, the end results were just stunning. Based on the traditional way of making a basil pesto, however I’m putting a fiery Caribbean twist to things. So you can expect the Caribbean sunshine (scotch bonnet peppers) to really shine through. Be warned... this is not your grandma’s pesto.
In a food processor add the Pine Nuts (1/2 cup) and Garlic (2 clove). Blend until roughly chopped.
Season with Sea Salt (1/4 teaspoon) and add the Fresh Cilantro (1/2 cup), Olive Oil (3/4 cup) and Lemon (1/2). Blend until creamy.If needed add more olive oil. Add in the Parmesan Cheese (1/2 cup) and blend once more until thick and runny.The flavors of the green scotch bonnet peppers are significantly different than fully mature and ripe ones. It’s not as fiery and there’s a freshness about the overall flavor. I did toss in a couple red ones (ripe) to the pesto to give it a bit of speckled contract to all the green.