During the month of October 2019, all three Movenpick Hotel and Resort Restaurants located in Casablanca, Tangier, and Marrakech will host a Pesto and Pistou inspired food month.
Pesto and Pistou is a Mediterranean kitchen cold basil sauce popular in Liguria, Italy’s northwestern coastal region and in Provence, a richly diverse area of southeastern France. Both versions are made with seeds, basil, herbs, olive oil, and cheese, however, the French pistou is made without pine nuts.
For it’s French-Italian inspired food month, the Moroccan Movenpick Hotel has created a mouth-watering menu with dishes ranging from Black Cod with Pesto Rosso, Seafood Soup with Tarragon Pistou, Tagliatelle with Basil Walnut Pesto, Fillet of Beef with Red Cabbage Pistou, Chicken Breast Breast with Yellow and Red Pepper Pistou, and Gugelhupf with Chocolate and Mint Pistou. To celebrate the October event, the Movenpick also released a Pesto and Pistou free cookbook downloadable on its website.
For those ready to re-create the recipes at home, the Movenpick chefs provided some top tips. First, pre-make the sauce. “Just fill the pesto or pistou into a glass jar, cover the top with a little olive oil and close the lid.” The condiment can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks. Pre-serving, it is also advised to let it warm on the counter for 30 minutes; then sprinkle with freshly grated cheese. The sauce pairs well with a classic baguette. The most important advice for making pistou and pesto is to never blend the cheese with the other ingredients. It should be grated separately so the sauce will have a more defined texture and not become runny.