According to Margaret Roach, all this hot weather lately has caused a lot of our basil to bolt so of course it’s time to start thinking about making pesto. Which means it’s also time to think about how to save this unmistakable taste of bright summer days for those dark, cold days of winter ahead. Freezing pesto is easy and it really does preserve that taste of summer. Here’s a great pesto recipe based on Jane Brody’s Good Food Book with instructions on how to freeze it.
Another quick and easy tip: Skip the cheese, the nuts and the food processor — put a healthy handful of basil leaves with some minced garlic (to taste) in small freezable plastic containers (4oz – 8oz) and pour olive oil to barely cover. Pop in the freezer and use for pasta sauces… stews…soup…whatever you’d use fresh basil in.
Photo from www.awaytogarden.com
PESTO
Ingredients:
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if desired)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cups basil leaves firmly packed
- 1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Place basil leaves in food processor with metal blade. Start machine, drop garlic down. When it is finely chopped, pour in oil. Add nuts with machine running. When nuts are ground, add Parmesan. Turn off machine when well blended. Stop machine and scrape sides as needed.
Makes about 1 1/4 cup, which generously covers 1 pound pasta. (recipe can be doubled!)
Use immediately, or freeze. To freeze, spoon pesto into an ice-cube tray (2 tablespoons per cube); cover with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight, then transfer cubes to a resealable plastic bag; keeps up to 6 months. Defrost pesto at room temperature. Mash with a fork before using in recipes.
Related posts:
- New Year’s Chili-for-a-Crowd Recipe
- A Taste of Zihua – Chorizo and Potato Soft Tacos
- Holiday Recipe: Latkes (Potato Pancakes)
- Caesar Salad (from Julia Child)
- Holiday Recipe: Heidi’s Holiday Rugelach
