When the Garden Gives you Basil...
Pesto is a personal favorite of mine and so easy to make. At the end of summer my basil plants are usually overgrown because I've lost the drive to keep up with the deadheading. I need to remind myself to cut them back harder mid-summer!
The best part of having a lot of basil is making pesto. All you need is a small food processor or blender and handful of ingredients. My pesto usually includes
- fresh picked basil leaves
- fresh graded Parmesan cheese
- minced garlic
- walnuts
- olive oil
-salt & fresh ground pepper
Pesto is great because the recipe can be altered so easily to what you like or what you have on hand. I always use walnuts instead of the traditional pine nuts because I like them better and I always have them at the house. The nuts can be omitted but I enjoy the added texture. Throw all your ingredients into a food processor or blender and add then add olive oil until the consistency is to your liking. Taste test of course to see if you need more salt/pepper!
This fall I canned my pesto for the first time. I've opened a few jars so far and it's held up great. The pesto is so pretty in the glass jars that I might plant extra basil next spring so I can give these away as holiday gifts!
