Harvest season is still going strong although I think that we are over the peak. Making pesto has been on my list for a couple of weeks now as my basil has started to flower. It is pretty easy with a couple of ingredients and a food processor. It stores well in the freezer for later.

I trimmed the majority of the stems off of the plant. I do leave some in case the plant wants to grow again or I have a little basil to use for a short while before the plant gives out. Strip the leaves and rinse them off. Gather the rest of the ingredients.

  • Parmesan cheese
  • garlic
  • Pine nuts (or walnuts)
  • olive oil
  • salt

Here is a rough recipe that I use.

  • 2 cps, loosely packed basil leaves
  • 1/2 cp shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tbs nuts
  • 1/4 cp olive oil (approx.)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salt to taste

Here is the process that I used minimizing cleanup with the food processor.

  1. Determine the amount of basil leaves so that I can scale the recipe proportionately
  2. Shred the cheese
  3. Add the nuts to the cheese
  4. When the nuts have been broken down with the cheese, add the basil and process as much as possible.
  5. When the mixture stops moving, add olive oil to the active mixture and additional chopping will begin to occur.
  6. Keep processing to achieve uniform mixture
  7. Add garlic
  8. Taste for salt

If you eat pesto, then you probably have an idea about how much you use per serving. I would say that we use for about a 1/2 cup of pesto for a family of four’s pasta. I would suggest that portion is how the batch gets distributed for storage. That way, when you pull it out to use, then you have the proper amount for the meal.

End Your Programming Routine: Basil is easy to grow, it likes hot weather. I used some from the plant throughout the summer but the majority went to make this pesto. Pesto is easy to make and delicious. It’s great this time of year, but it is also great in the middle of winter for some reminder of the flavor of summer.