Pesto

Pesto
There are a few things that we always have a supply of.  Chocolate chip cookies is one.  The other is a big thing of pesto in the refrigerator.  The key to keeping it fresh is after using it always pour olive oil over the top so it does not spoil. 

Simple recipe:

4 cups basil leaves

1 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 tsp. kosher salt

2/3 cup olive oil

In a Cuisinart ( makes life easy ) put in the basil, cheese, pine nuts and salt.  Blend until really chopped.  While the blade is turning slowly add in the olive oil until the pesto becomes more like a sauce. If you need more olive oil, just keep adding until you have the consistency you want.

That's it.  Pour in a container, cover with olive oil, leave in the refrigerator for a few weeks.  It is good with almost anything.

Comments (Archived):

  1. Laura Yecies

    One of my favorite summer staples – I like to add garlic to mine 🙂

    1. Gotham Gal

      Most do. 🙂

  2. William Mougayar

    Yeah! Same here… but with garlic – I know you don’t like garlic :)Variations that work:- substitute walnuts to pine nuts, and toast them lightly prior, to release more nuttiness- substitute baby spinach leaves to basil leaves

    1. ShanaC

      parsley also works really well

      1. William Mougayar

        that’s interesting. i should try that. or maybe mix basil, parsley & spinach for a trio of greens.

        1. ShanaC

          my personal guess is any herb with a relatively not dry stem (cilantro, mint, parsley) you could make a pesto of. Things like rosemary, thyme, are too stiff to do a pesto with.That said, I’ve only done parsley and basil 🙂

  3. ShanaC

    I used up my csa basilProtip that I screwed up – if you leave out the cheese and the nut of choice, you can freeze in icecube trays for serving sized chunks year round

    1. Gotham Gal

      yes you can. nice tip

  4. Ruth BT

    Love pesto and another variation that always goes down well is coriander (cilantro), macadamia nuts and parmesan. Add a touch of lemon juice and usual amounts of olive oil. Sublime on gnocchi!

    1. Gotham Gal

      big fan of cilantro