Pesto!

I simply LOVE pesto.  We use it in our home as a dip with toasted pita, as a sauce to mix with hot pasta or as a delicious coating on baked chicken. Pesto conjurs up such wonderful memories of hot summer days when basil is at its peak.  I grow basil in my yard each year and not a single leaf goes to waste.  It is important to pick sweet basil before it goes to flower.  Once flowering, the leaves turn bitter.  If you notice your basil about to begin flowering, snip the flower off so more of the plant's energy goes into growing the leaves. 

Here is our family's favorite pesto recipe that we acquired many years ago when my oldest was just a baby.  I worked at a co-op organic farm on Thursdays in exchange for a delicious array of vegetables each week.  After all the work was done, families gathered together under the trees and shared a community meal.  This is where I found:

The Yummiest Pesto

1 cup basil leaves, packed

1 cup olive oil

1 cup pine nuts (or walnuts are tasty too!)

1 cup parmesean cheese

Whirl it all up in your food processor, in that order, and Voila! 

Can be frozen...just leave out the cheese. Believe me pesto is a real treat in the middle of February!

Also, if you are dairy free, you can replace the cheese with tomatoes with a delicious result.

 

Comments

[Dawn]

Rebecca, this sounds delicious! My youngest doesn't tolerate tomatoes very well, but he *loves* pasta so I will have to try this out! :)

Can basil be grown in a container?

[Rebecca]

Yes, Dawn, it does really well in a container. I have grown it in one for years although just in the last two summers have I planted it in the ground (small raised bed). Just make sure it gets lots of sunlight and is planted in a large pot as it grows pretty bushy!

[MichelleW]

Rebecca! What a fabulous blog! Oh, my goodness! I have enjoyed every entry. Not only good reading, but great resource as well. On the pesto, I cut down a little on the oil by adding cream cheese to mine and we use it in everything. Melt a little in the pan before scrambling an egg, makes a special breakfast.

[Rebecca]

Michelle, the egg w/pesto idea sounds delicious! I will have to try it for breakfast tomorrow.
Thank for visiting!

[Dawn]

Hi again, Rebecca!

I picked up two kinds of basil seeds today ~ "Sweet" and "Genovese." I was wondering which kind you plant or if you knew which would make a better pesto? Thanks!

[Rebecca]

Dawn, I plant sweet basil each year. I have also planted cinnamon and greek but exclusively use the sweet for pesto. I am not familiar with Genovese (but I sure like the name).
Let me know how it your garden grows :)!