Fresh Pesto

Never Go Sauceless!
Yesterday, I spoke of Pesto Sauce, and two people asked which brand I used. Brand? BRAND? I'm flabbergasted! It's the easiest sauce in the world to make. Today I made two appetizer dipping jars of it. (Ok...canning jars, but one jar usually meets one serving. And the jars are cute.) You can make bigger batches, but it has fresh  Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, so the fresher the better.

I use either fresh basil, or I use basil that I reaped from the summer garden and froze for winter consumption. It allows for fresh pesto all winter long. Note: When I freeze basil, I place leaves on cookie sheet, and once totally frozen, I stack leaves in a plastic bag.

Garden Fresh Basil ready to be frozen

Basic Pesto Recipe

For the batch of pesto above, I use 1 cup of basil, 2cloves of garlic, 1/4-1/3cup of Parmesan cheese, 2TBS of pinenuts and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.  You will probably need a pinch of salt up to 1/8tsp depending on your saltiness of your cheese and a dash of pepper. I really don't measure anything, I eye ball it, but adjust according to taste. I need my pesto to have a garlic bite.

Blend all until smooth in the food processor. Scrape sides periodically.  I start with only 1/4 cup of olive oil and then add as needed while blending. If using to dip bread, increase the olive oil.

Supposedly you can freeze up to 3 months, but I never bother. We devour in about 3 days;  plus I can taste "previously frozen" on pesto. Fresh is the way to go!

Kathleen Brandt
stradercom@aol.com