Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Basil Pesto....

It has been a good summer for basil, hot and dry.  Basil does not like "wet feet, so the heat and dry weather is perfect!  Try not to let the flowers bloom as that will obstruct the leaves from growing, so pinch back the plant often.


I have cut the basil down to the bottom leaves a few times this summer.  I dried some, froze some and made some pesto.  Imagine my surprise when a few weeks later I had this:


So, once again, I cut it down, washed it....


...and let it dry overnight.


I gathered my supplies to make pesto...


...added leaves and pine nuts to my food processor...


...and pulsed it...


...added the cheese...


...and garlic and oil...


...and my special ingredients: Florida Seasoned Pepper and Jalapeño Salt (from Hey Rose):


I use pesto in my homemade sauce, on garlic toast and in salad dressings.


I freeze it in ice cube trays, or small containers so it defrosts quickly!


Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (about 2 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts 
  • 2 lg garlic cloves, minced 
  • Jalapeno Salt and Florida Seasoned Pepper


My house smells so good right now!

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Patti @ Pandoras Box
Patti @ Pandoras Box

I live in central NY and I am a retired family and consumer science teacher. I enjoy all types of crafting, decorating and cooking

13 comments:

  1. One of my favorites. I love it on a bit of crusty french baguette! Great recipe, too. Thanks for sharing it, Patti. Have a great day- xo Diana

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  2. Thank you for the recipe. I didn't know you could freeze pesto! And you can also freeze basil?? Please clue me in to your ways!

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  3. You is smart! Freezing your pesto....
    We had some wonderful olive oil at another farm to table dinner last week from a local Italian chef....it tasted a bit like tomato! Your recipe looks and sounds great. I love pine nuts.

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  4. Your extra seasonings sound interesting! My basil is harvested and the pesto is in the freezer. Now I have to go out and see if mine re-grew!

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  5. You wil thank this warm fall during the cold winter days when you are using all that wonderful pesto! One of my favorites, I should do this. Nothing as good as home made and the convience of the freezer. Great recipe, thanks for sharing. I have basil I need to use now!

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  6. Pesto is so easy to make, I don't know why I've only done it once! Yours sounds so goooood!
    Jenna

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  7. Looks amazing Patti. Pesto is so good for sauces.

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  8. Very helpful suggestions that help in the optimizing topic,Thanks for your sharing.

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  9. Patti, this looks amazing! I could eat pesto on just about everything.

    Have I said this before? Your blog doesn't update on my blog roll and you are over here doing great posts! I will delete and retry to see if it starts updating.

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  10. ummm...I can almost smell and taste it....

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  11. Just beautiful! It was such an excruciating summer here. I just let my basil go. Seeing your gorgeous pesto makes me really sorry I did!

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