Pesto
In Italy it is called Pesto Genovese; beautiful, flavorful, healthy Pesto. It is the cook’s best friend to liven up a drab pasta dish, sauces, meats, soups, sandwiches, salad dressings and much more. The Aroma is pungent and comforting; your senses take you into the heart of Genoa. And it couldn’t be simpler to make. Here is a Pesto recipe anyone can do and some suggestions for using it…you too can create like a gourmet!
-1 large bouquet of fresh Basil (approx), not dried or frozen…fresh only. 1 bouquet should be enough to over-fill your blender. -1 to 1 ½ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil (extra virgin only) -1/2 cup Pine Nuts -2 peeled cloves of Fresh Garlic Sandwich size zippered plastic bags (You would normally add ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese also, but we are going to freeze this and cheese doesn’t freeze well.)
Wash basil in cold water; shake into sink and lay basil on layers of paper towels. Cover with a couple more, press lightly to dry.
In bottom of blender or food processor, put half of the oil and all garlic cloves. Break or cut the lower small stems off of the large bottom stem and put into blender, put all smaller stems into the blender, they have great flavor and are tender. Only remove the thick bottom part of the stem on any cluster that is woody.
When you have it half full, add nuts and remainder of oil; finish putting your basil in blender, pushing it down lightly.
Cover and put on “chop” setting; after a few seconds, increase to high setting…adding more oil as necessary to make a smooth sauce, not too thin. Make sure everything is well blended and chopped. It should look something like runny, finely minced spinach with the aroma filling your house.
With rubber spatula, place approximately ½ cup pesto in each zippered bag. Lay bags down and gently smooth air out (don’t ooze any pesto out though) and zip bag so it is securely locked. When you have all bags filled and locked lay them in a slack, flat, in freezer.
To clean up remaining pesto in blender; remove plastic sprinkling spout and add one bottle of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, cover and blend until pesto is cleaned up. With funnel, pour back into bottle, replace spout and cover, storing on pantry or cupboard shelf to use later.
When pesto bags are frozen, you can break off desired amount a little at a time from each bag. Allow to thaw on a small dish and add approximately 1 teaspoon of grated or shredded parmesan for every 2 Tablespoons Pesto. USES for Pesto: •
Mix into cooked pasta
(spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini) while pasta is hot right after draining,
do not heat Pesto, but allow the pasta to heat it. |