Pesto All Year!
Pesto All Year!
We love pesto on noodles, rice, bread or even veggies. I add it to my spaghetti sauce and other dishes to liven them up. To us, it just tastes like summer. We eat it often in the summer when the basil is plentiful in our garden, but we don’t stop then. Basil won’t handle any frost so in September I harvest all the basil plants. I strip their leaves and bring them inside. I also harvest some parsley and or some carrot greens. I use my food processor for my several batches and I freeze most of it for enjoyment in the winter and spring.
Recipe:
-
3 cups basil leaves
- 1 cup parsley or carrot tops
- 2/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Place basil, parsley, salt and pepper and garlic into food processor and pulse until it is finely chopped. Drizzle olive oil while processing. It will be a loose paste. At this point I freeze it. You can use ice cube trays to create blocks. I find that this is a one way street for ice cube trays. The garlic will permeate the plastic. So I make several batches and fill a large glass baking pan. I cover it with plastic wrap to keep it green and pop it in the freezer. After an hour it’s frozen enough to flip out and chop into cubes of whatever size you prefer. I put them in freezer bags When ready to use it, just thaw and mix in some romano or parmesan cheese and presto you have pesto!
Wendy Salvail
