Happy New Year to everyone!  Although I do not make official resolutions, I am quite anxious to get back to blogging.  I have a stack of recipes and photos waiting to be logged and published.  The following post was set up back in September – so the photos are not current.  I wish it were still sunny and warm with fresh basil was growing in my garden…If you are anxious to make basil best now, I would suggest asking at a warehouse store like Gordon Foods – or in Toledo at Sofo’s Warehouse.  I purchase basil by the pound at Sofo’s.  It’s packaged in one pound boxes for restaurants.  This quantity is perfect for making about 2 batches.  I think the cost is around $10.00.  It will supply you with enough pesto for several meals – and its wonderful to have pesto in the freezer for a quick pasta pesto dinner.

Pasta Pesto has been a family favorite for many, many years.  I make basil pesto a few times per year and freeze little containers to pull out and defrost to whip up a great meal in no time at all.  I find it’s wonderful to have in my refrigerator to add to mayonnaise as a sandwich condiment, or add to a vinaigrette dressing to jazz it up with loads of flavor.  It’s delicious just drizzled onto fresh tomatoes.

fresh pesto drizzled onto warm from the garden tomatoes!

A few weeks ago my basil plants were just beginning to flower and go to seed.  I couldn’t keep up with the growth so I did a lot of pruning so those pesky seeds on the flowers would not make the basil leaves bitter. I had plenty to make a few double batches of pesto.

basil plants in the garden needing to be pruned before they flower and seed.

When we were away for a few weeks and I left my small garden untended, the remaining plants have seeded and the leaves have faded to a light green and the basil is now more bitter and not so great.  I’m so glad I made some pesto when I did.  My winter stock of pesto will have to be made from farmer’s market purchased basil – or my local restaurant supply warehouse store, Sofos.  My friend Teri and I will plan a saturday or sunday of making multiple batches of pesto together in the coming month.  It’s a messy but really great smelling adventure!

I find it best to pinch the stems off the basil and discard them along with any flowers or seeds.  They do not enhance the flavor of the sauce.  If you are short on basil, you can substitue some parsley.  Just be sure you use more basil so the predominant basil flavor remains.

picked basil ready to be rinsed and to remove little critters!

The recipe I have used most regularly is from the Silver Palate Cookbook (Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, c. 1979 Workman Pub.) It has just 7 ingredients and is very easy to blend together in a food processor or heavy duty blender.  There are many variations of basil pesto that call for different types of nuts.  Probably the most traditional Italian pesto uses pine nuts (or pignoli nuts).  These are really buttery and rich but VERY expensive.  I tend to save my pine nuts for garnish to really appreciate them in food dishes.  Their flavor is great in pesto too but it’s almost too rich.  I use shelled walnuts to follow the Silver Palate recipe and often will toast them in the oven for a short time to get a really good flavor.  The original recipe does not call for toasting them, but I think it makes a difference.

use best quality olive oil, fresh garlic and both parmesan and romano cheeses.

I also make sure to rough chop or press the garlic cloves before adding them to the food processor.  If you don’t blend the mixture enough you may end up with large chunks of garlic that won’t be appealing with the basil and cheese mixture.  Be sure to follow the steps as provided because if you add the olive oil and cheese too early the basil, nuts and garlic will not be blended or chopped finely enough to make a good paste.

basil, garlic and nuts chopped together before adding the olive oil and cheese

after slowly drizzling in olive oil while machine is running add cheese, salt and pepper and pulse until blended

I have also seen some recipes suggest that the cheese not be added until just before serving.  I don’t think it makes a big difference and it’s just so nice to pull a small container of pesto out of the freezer and be able to use it as soon as it defrosts without having to add the cheese in the end.

The recipe as shown will sauce up to 2 pounds of pasta.  I sometimes freeze a whole batch, or use smaller containers and freeze one batch in two containers.  If you are just using the pesto as a condiment it will stay fresh in your refrigerator for up to a month.

Basil Pesto

Yiels is 2 cups. Plenty for 2 pounds of pasta
Serves 8 to 10 generously
preparation time is about 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves, thoroughly washed and patted dry

4 good size garlic cloves, peeled and chopped or pressed

1 cup shelled walnuts (best if toasted in 375′ oven for 7-10 minutes then cooled)

1 cup best quality olive oil

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

Instructions

Combine the basil, garlic and walnuts in the bolw of a food processor. Process to chop evenly.

Leave the motor running and add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Shut the motor off, add the cheeses, a pinch of salt and a liberal grinding of pepper.  Process briefly to combine, then scrape out into a bolw and cover until ready to use.

 

Notes

Original recipe found in the Silver Palate Cookbook (Rosso and Lukins c. 1979)

Pasta with Pesto

4 to 6 main dish servings

Preparation time about 20 minutes (with prepared pesto)

Ingredients

1 pound linguine or any shaped pasta

1 1/2 TBS salt

4 quarts water

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup pesto

fresh pepper

Grilled Chicken, sliced into bite size pieces (optional)

Instructions

Bring water to a boil in large pot. Add salt, then pasta when water boils again.  Stir pasta to ensure it doesn’t stick together.  Boil for 8 to 10 minutes until it is firm to the bite (al dente).

Save 1/4 cup pasta water before draining the pasta into a collander.

Place Pesto and heavy cream into large serving bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons of hot water to blend – save remaining pasta water in case the sauce is still too thick.

Add pasta, and toss well to coat. Add chicken pieces if desired and toss into sauce and pasta.

Serve immediately and top with freshly grated cheese and pepper if desired.

 

 

 

 

 

Notes

Original recipe adapted form The Silver Palate Cookbook, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins (Workman Pub. 1979)