Basil Pesto
It’s August and our garden has produced enough basil to exceed our (high!) expectations. I only had 32 square feet of garden room, and tried to maximize it with food that either tastes better or is cheaper that what you can find at the grocery. Basil falls into both of these categories.
Although fresh basil has been gracing plenty of dishes for us this summer, we’ve had to hone our pesto skills so that we can preserve and freeze our basil come fall. While we enjoyed a good hand-beaten pesto in the mortar and pestle, it was a lot more work and had bit more chunky consistency than the standard sauce. The trusty ol’ food processor won this challenge.
Pesto is great on just about anything, especially pasta, pizza, and sandwiches.
Basil Pesto
Inspired by the garden’s basil
Makes about 1 cup
What You Need
Food processor
2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup walnuts*
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 pinches kosher salt
What To Do
1 Grate 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and set aside.
2 In a food processor, combine 4 cloves garlic, 2 cups basil, and the 1/3 cup walnuts. Pulse 5-6 times until the ingredients are chopped finely, but are not mushy. Add a few pinches of salt to taste.
3 Add the grated parmesan cheese to the food processor. Turn it to on and add 1/2 cup olive oil in a steady stream. Add more (or less) olive oil to achieve the consistency you enjoy.
*We’ve used pine nuts as well, to good success. However, we’ve found that walnuts are cheaper and taste even better!
10 Comments
Tristan @ Enjoy Life
04 Sep 2010 08:09 pm
I couldn’t keep up with the amount of basil growing in my last garden! It got out of control! In all seriousness, basil is one of those herbs that can do so much for a dish – alone or in a pesto. Doesn’t matter! The photo looks great!
roshni
30 Sep 2010 06:09 pm
this recipe is yummy, but any tips on freezing pesto for the winter??
@writenett
12 Aug 2011 01:08 pm
I love seeing walnuts in your recipe! I’m not a fan of pine nuts so I always use toasted walnuts instead. People rave about my pesto but I always thought it was so much better because of the garden basil. But maybe it’s the walnuts! Be sure to toast them for even more flavor.
Just discovered your site a couple days ago when @JBGorganic tweeted your potato argula flat bread recipe. Your site layout is a breath of fresh air, so clean and inviting. And I can’t wait to try the flat bread recipe this weekend using potatoes & argula from Johnson’s.
Oh – for Roshni, the person who asked about freezing pesto – most recipes call for stirring in the parmesan cheese AFTER adding the oil. If you do it that way, you can freeze the pesto without cheese & just stir it in after you thaw the pesto.
Lynett Oliver
12 Aug 2011 06:08 pm
BTW, I just made this & discovered I had no walnuts after the basil & garlic were in the food processor. So I used pecans. It tastes pretty good now & I bet it's even better in half an hour or so. Serving it tonight at Game Night. Am about to make the Black Bean Quinoa Bowl with Peach Salsa, too. Will let you know how they both go over.
Lynett Oliver
13 Aug 2011 10:08 pm
Just made the second batch of this in 24 hours! It’s so good and the best way to use up the abundance of basil before it goes bad. I do have a question though. These two batches have been darker than pesto I’ve made before. Dark enough that I had to tell people what it was last night. Anybody know whether that could be from the pecans? It’s the only thing I can think of since my pesto is usually a bright green rather than dark.
Sonja
14 Aug 2011 08:08 am
Hmm, not sure about this one. The only thing I've noticed is that pesto tends to darken as you expose it to air...did you have it out for longer than normal?
Becky
26 Aug 2011 10:08 pm
I’ve always made my pesto with sunflower seeds. Money-saving alternative to pine nuts, and also works for those with nut allergies!
Helene
31 Aug 2011 10:08 pm
Sounds easy to make. I love pesto and use it on pizza, in pastas and sandwiches.
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