Homemade Fresh Pesto

Nov21

Pesto is a such an easy thing to make and is so delicious that I don’t know why more people don’t make it. This summer I made fresh pesto with my mini food processor which I then froze for later use. I put some on pasta the other night and all the flavors of that fresh basil burst in my mouth just like when I first made it.

To make fresh pesto you can either grow your own plants or buy plants to use. I cut off all the leaves except the biggest to use in pesto. I keep the bigger leaves to add when making a pasta sauce to cook down. I do not use the flowers if there are any, as I think they give the pesto a slightly bitter taste.

Soak leaves for 15 minutes

I use Italian or Genovese basil to make my pesto and after I cut the leaves off, I soak the basil in bowl of water to freshen it up for about 15 minutes.

Blend salt. pine nuts, and olive oil

Put olive oil, sea salt, pine nuts, and garlic cloves into a blender or food processor and blend well.

Add drained basil leaves

Drain your basil leaves and add them and blend till smooth and creamy. If the mixture is really thick add more oil a little at a time till smooth. It should not look like thick chopped spinach but be a little thinner and smooth consistency!

Add parmesan cheese

Then add the grated cheese and blend again. Notice how it is finely grated and light and fluffy.

Finished pesto ready to freeze for later use.

I like to put the finished pesto in freezer bags, taking as much of the air out of the bag as possible. Then lay the bags flat in the freezer. Be sure to not add too much to each bag as you want it thin enough to break off chunks of it later to use with your pasta. Above is the finished pesto ready to freeze. Here is the recipe:

FRESH BASIL PESTO
INGREDIENTS
1/2 extra-virgin olive oil (give or take a little) use a good grade
1/4-1/2 tsp coarse sea salt ( I use less as the cheese is salty)
1/4 pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
3-4 cups fresh Italian basil
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Put olive oil, sea salt, pine nuts, and garlic cloves into a blender or food processor and blend. Drain your basil leaves and add them and blend till smooth and creamy. If the mixture is really thick add more oil a little at a time till smooth. It should not look like chopped spinach but be of thinner consistency! Then add the grated cheese and blend again. If you are not going to use it right away, put it in a bowl and add a small amount of oil on top of it to help keep the pesto from oxidizing. This won’t hurt the flavor but will turn the pesto into a shade of Army green instead of its bright beautiful green color. I like to put it in freezer bags, taking as much of the air out of the bag as possible and lay it flat in the freezer. Be sure to not add too much to each bag as you want it thin enough to break off chunks of it later to use with your pasta. Never microwave the frozen pesto to soften it. I like to put it in a bowl on top of the stove (next to the pot of boiling pasta) where it will start to soften up. Then after I drain the pasta, I pour it over the pesto. The hot pasta will melt the pesto, then toss it to coat all the pasta evenly. Add a little grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and enjoy.

Tomatoes and Mozzarella-Caprese salad-yum!

Jul13

Caprese salad-Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

It’s starting! I’ve been getting a few ripe tomatoes every couple of days and have and been enjoying them. Here is a picture of a Caprese salad I made last night with tomatoes out of the garden with Mozzarella cheese I made and basil I grew, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette. I got into learning how to make some cheeses mainly to go with my tomatoes. I haven’t got it down as good as I’d like but the mozzarella was still good.

Elodie’s basil pesto

Jul28

basil-cleaned and ready to be made into pesto

Three basil plants needed trimming to keep them bushy. Here is the recipe and some pictures for making basil pesto.

Elodie’s Basil Pesto

About 6-8 cups packed of fresh, clean basil
good quality olive oil
garlic crushed
Parmesan cheese
shelled pinon nuts-1/2 cup

Clean, wash and cut off stems from basil. Crush garlic and add to blender.

add oil to basil

Put about 1/3 of the basil into a blender and start to pour olive oil into the blender (maybe 1/2 cup or a little more). Start to blend on low and add more basil and/or oil as needed to make the mixture thick (like thick spaghetti sauce) but still pourable.

add Parmesan cheese to basil

Add Parmesan cheese to taste and a little salt if needed but taste it before adding salt as the cheese has lots of salt in it. You can add pinion nuts if you have them but we didn’t here. Put in plastic freezable ziploc baggies and flatten the baggie as pictured. The mixture should be no more than 1/2 inch thick when bag is flattened. Put in freezer and break off chunks as needed. Don’t heat the pesto or the basil will turn dark (it’s ok to eat but not as pretty).

final pesto

Just break off a chunk from your baggy of pesto and put it on your drained but still hot pasta and it will ‘melt’ into the pasta as you mix it up. This amount made about 2 cups of pesto.