One of my favourite things to use a big bowl of freshly grown basil for is pesto. It is the main reason I grow so much basil; I pick the leaves several times during the growing season and wash them, spin them dry in a lettuce spinner and freeze them in the proper amount for a pesto recipe. I know you can purchase pesto in a jar these days, but it isn't nearly as good (or as healthy) as home made. Plus pesto is a snap to make. I often make this on Fridays, in keeping with the tradition of meatless Fridays.
Pesto
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano
Salt to taste (approx 1/2 tsp)
In food processer, blend all above ingredients except cheese and salt. When blended, mix in cheese by hand. Season to taste with salt. Serve on pasta with grilled Scallops.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 4 - 6 servings of pasta.
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4 comments:
Yay for pesto! And yay for grilled scallops! Do you do take-out? :)
Mmmmm, didn't know pesto was so easy to make! Maybe next year I'll have a garden.
I love pesto but I haven't ever tried making my own. We have basil in the garden now and I think I will have a go at this. Can you freeze the pesto once it has been made up?
Therese, you can freeze pesto without the cheese. Just add the Romano or Parmesan after thawing. Also, I always wait to add the salt until after the cheese is in, because some cheeses are more salty than others.
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