I made pesto last night for the second time in my life. It was relatively uneventful and quite easy. I used the recipe I found on another blog, Towards Sustainability (see link below).
PESTO
4 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan
1/2 slightly toasted nuts (I used almonds)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I put in lots)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Rinse and pat dry the leaves. In a food processor or blender, combine cheese and nuts. Add the garlic and mix again. Dribble in the olive oil and blend some more. Finally, add in the leaves and blend away. I put it in 3 little jam jars. Not a bounty, but it's a good start! You can freeze these jars, but on other sites people talk about not adding the cheese if you are going to freeze it.
What to do with the pesto? I think I will add it to any kind of noodles, and it is good spread on baguettes, or toast. The Food Network website has 50 Things to Make With Pesto. I do like the idea of putting it on a BLT, or a grilled cheese sandwich, and I think it sounds good to make pizza and put pesto on the crust before the other goodies. I am not wild about mixing it in to potato salad, or with green beans, or making pesto meatballs or fritters. Then I found another website, seriouseats.com, and they had some ideas like spread pesto on crackers, use any time in place of butter, spread on chicken before baking. I can't wait to start eating!!!
Helpful links mentioned in this post: Food Network and Serious Eats
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