I'm back from my unplanned blogging break. Just couldn't swing it last week.Mmmm, pesto magic! I am impressed by how so few ingredients can become such a flavorful dish! The basil and garlic are from our garden. The pine nuts are from Trader Joe's, the best source I've found.
Though I'm by-the-book, pesto is one of those amazingly flexible dishes. The DH, much more the experimenter, likes to change it up. We've had it made with other greens, other nuts, pumpkin seeds, a dash of hot sauce, etc. Here's my basic recipe, from the Big Red Betty Crocker cookbook.
2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
- Place all ingredients in the blender or food processor. Cover and blend on medium speed about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.
- Use pesto immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month (color of pesto will darken as it ages).
Note: I freeze mine much longer than 1 month. I look forward to its fresh taste in the middle of winter!
Do you have a favorite pesto variation?
6 comments:
Sometimes I use walnuts instead of pine nuts in my pesto.
I just went to Trader Joes last week and bought the last bag of "toasted" pine nuts. I was sad to see that they raised the price on their pine nuts to $7.99 for an 8oz bag. Ouch!
Welcome back Steph!
My recipe seems a mirror to yours. I too freeze my pesto for longer than one month. My favorite dish using my pesto is to toss it over (cooked) cheese filled tortellini. Mmmm!
nice to have you back. I use James Beard's recipe for pesto, but it's pretty close. Mine is frozen until it is used up. Love the stuff!
This post has reminded me that I must make some pesto for the freezer. Yummmm!
I hope you had a successful business trip.
THis is almost my exact recipe too. I forgo the pinenuts sometime due to price, but other than that it is the same, which reminds me I have basil growing like crazy I need to get it picked before it goes into bloom!!
Can anyone tell me a good vegan substitution for the cheese in a pesto like this? Or would it just not be enough like true pesto? --Spirituality of Tea
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