Basil Pine Nut Biscotti Food

BASIL PESTO

Steps:

• Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.
• If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

PINE NUT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in extracts. In a separate bowl, sift flour, semolina and salt and add to butter mixture, stirring just until blended - dough will be soft. Stir in pine nuts and chocolate chips or chunks. Spoon mixture into 2 lengths on prepared baking sheet and with floured hands, shape evenly into 2 logs. Brush with eggwash and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool 15 minutes.
• While still warm, slice biscotti into 1/2 -inch slices and lay flat on baking sheet. Place baking sheet in oven and turn oven off. Biscotti will dry as oven cools, about 30 minutes.

BASIL PINE NUT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Toast pine nuts in pie pan, in oven for 8-10 minutes.
• Beat together butter, Parmesan, basil, lemon zest, eggs and milk.
• Mix in flour and baking powder. Add pine nuts.
• Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper.
• Shape dough in a 15 inch long, 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Place on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes.
• Turn oven down to 325°F.
• Remove dough from sheet and cut into 1/2 inch wide slices. Place slices cut side down on lined baking sheet and bake 40-50 minutes.
• Cool and store in airtight container.

BASIC BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and add sugar to blend. Add salt. Sift flour and baking powder and add all at once to eggs. Stir just to blend. Add flavoring or garnish. Spoon mixture lengthwise onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased. Spoon into a "log", shape as wide as you choose, the width of the "log" will determine the length of the cut biscotti. Make as many "logs" as you have mix. Allow logs to sit for about 10 minutes at room temperature before baking. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes or until center of log springs back when touched. Remove from oven and let cool thoroughly. Cut logs into strips crosswise. Standard is about 1/2 inch. Place each biscotti cut side down onto cookie sheet lined with parchment or lightly greased. Bake again for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned on edges. Cool thoroughly, then store in airtight container;
• For Hazelnut: 2 cups roughly chopped, sliced, or whole hazelnuts .
• For Lemon/Poppy: grated rind of three lemons, 1 teaspoon poppy seeds .
• For Ginger: 1 1/2 cups chopped crystallized (candied) ginger.

RAISIN-AND-NUT-STUDDED BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Soak the raisins in the liquor for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour 2 cookie sheets.
• If you are making the biscotti by hand, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With your fingers, rub in the butter until the mixture has the texture of coarse cornmeal. Place them in a mixing bowl, making a well in the center. Beat together the egg yolks, reserved liquor and the milk and pour them into the well. Gradually draw the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, turning the bowl and working from the outside toward the center. When the dough is evenly mixed, scrape it onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten it into a rectangle. Scatter half the raisins, pine nuts, almonds, candied orange peel and aniseeds over the dough, and fold the dough over on itself several times to distribute them evenly. Add more flour to the work surface if necessary to keep the dough from sticking, and repeat the process with the remaining raisins, pine nuts, almond, orange peel and aniseeds.
• If you are using an electric mixer, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar and beat for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add the yolks, one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding another. Stir in the liquor and the milk. Sift the flour mixture over the top and fold in at the lowest speed. Add the remaining ingredients by hand.
• Lightly flour the work surface and your hands and shape the dough into 6 equal 9-by-2-inch logs. If the dough is too soft to roll, cover and refrigerate it for 1 to 2 hours. Transfer the logs to the cookie sheets, setting them at least 2 inches apart. Flatten the tops and brush with the egg wash.
• Bake until pale golden and barely firm, about 20 minutes. Remove the logs from the cookie sheets, let them cool until you can handle them, about 10 minutes, then cut each one on the diagonal at -inch intervals. Set the slices on their edges on the cookie sheets, leaving 1-inch space between them, and bake until golden and firm, about 15 to 18 minutes. Alternatively, you can lay the slices on their sides and turn them after 7 minutes. Cool on a rack.

PINE NUT AND BASIL RICE

Steps:

• In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan cook pine nuts in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer pine nuts to a bowl. Add rice to oil in pan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover rice and cook over very low heat until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 18 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, undisturbed, 5 minutes.
• Finely chop basil. Fluff rice with a fork and stir in basil, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste.

NUTTY PINA COLADA BISCOTTI

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 1/3 cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Stir in the rum, pineapple juice and coconut extract until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the batter. Stir in the pistachio nuts, pineapple and coconut until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
• Divide the dough into four equal parts. Form each piece of dough into a 12 inch long log shape on a lightly floured surface. Place two logs onto each cookie sheet, and pat down until they are about 3 inches wide. There should be at least 2 inches of space between each log.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm but not crisp. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
• Place the biscotti bars on a cutting board, and use a serrated knife to cut into 3/4 inch wide diagonal slices. Return the slices to the baking sheets cut side down. Return to the oven. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the cookies over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

ROSEMARY PINE-NUT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet, place in the oven and toast for six to eight minutes. Transfer the nuts to a bowl and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside.
• Beat the eggs lightly, just until they are blended in a mixing bowl with a whisk or in an electric mixer. Remove two tablespoons of the egg mixture to a small dish and set aside. Beat the sugar into the remaining eggs until blended. Stir in the vanilla, rosemary and lemon zest, then stir in the flour mixture to form a soft dough.
• Divide the dough in half and place one portion on a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, pat it into a six-inch square. Scatter half the pine nuts on the dough and press them into the surface. Roll the dough into a cylinder about 2 inches in diameter and 12 to 15 inches long. Place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush the tops of both cylinders with the reserved egg.
• Place the cylinders in the oven and bake about 15 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. Transfer to a cutting board and cut on an angle into slices one-half-inch thick. Return the slices to the baking sheet, standing them up, and return them to the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes, until they are crisp and dry. Allow them to cool completely before storing or serving.

LIMONCELLO PINE NUT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a cookie sheet.
• Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in food processor and pulse briefly to blend.
• Add chopped butter and pulse until the butter is broken down into very tiny bits.
• In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg, vanilla, zest and limoncello. Stir in pine nuts and add to food processor and pulse, just to blend. The mixture should be moist but crumbly.
• Turn out onto a flat surface and press together. Press the dough away from you using the palm of you hand once or twice so everything is well moistened.
• Form dough into a ball. Cut in half and roll each section into a long 1" thick rope. If the dough seems too sticky, dust your hands with flour while rolling it.
• Place the two ropes on the baking sheet a few inches apart and flatten the tops slightly.
• Sprinkle lightly with sugar and bake until lightly golden, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. If the logs are too hot when you try to slice them, they can break.
• Cutting the biscotti:.
• When the two ropes are cool enough to remove from the sheet pan without breaking, place them on a flat surface and cut into approximately ½-inch slices, cutting on an angle using a quick, clean stroke with a sharp chef's knife. A sawing motion may cause the biscotti to break. Don't worry if they feel a bit crumbly. If you handle them gently, they will be fine.
• Place the cut biscotti, cut side up, back on the sheet pan, and bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until they are lightly browned.
• Cool on wire rack and store in a covered container. They will keep about one week.