Sunday, August 26, 2012

I smell like an Italian restaurant . . .


I planted ONE basil plant in my garden this year, and despite the Oklahoma drought, I was rewarded with a HUGE basil shrub!  So, with nothing better to do today, I set out to make Pesto.

The house smells AMAZING!  I now have a quart of fresh pesto in freezer waiting for wintertime food adventures (if it makes it that long)

Here's the recipe if you want to try it yourself. Very easy, VERY rewarding!

It starts with simple ingredients, fresh basil leaves, fresh garlic cloves, toasted pine nuts, freshly grated Pecorino (or a mix of pecorino, parmesan and romano)  and a good olive oil.

Ingredients
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted in a dry pan)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I use the garlic infused from Whole Foods bulk isle)
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese (I like using the 3 cheese blend from Whole Foods (pecorino, parmesan and romano)
Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste

Wash fresh plucked leaves and spin in a salad spinner. 

I stuff my bullet blender with 2 cups of leaves, the fresh garlic, the pine nuts, the cheese and olive oil. You could also use a food processor, but I think a regular blender would yield a "chunkier" pesto.

I spin it all until I get a nice smooth paste. The finished pesto is smooth, green and oh so good!

I finished it by stirring in the sea salt and pepper to taste and then pack it all into one container for the freezer! I like one container, easy to chip out what you need with a fork . . . or you could freeze in ice cube trays for a more controlled serving. I don't like the cubes myself . . they freezer burn too easy.



Enjoy!   I am now thinking of what I can do with the rest of the herb garden . . hmmmmmm!

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