Basil and Pesto

With a frost due any night in Canada it is time to harvest the basil, make a big batch of pesto and freeze the surplus.

 

For me the best way to preserve the basil harvest through the winter is to freeze it.

I do this by stripping the leaves from the stems and throwing the leaves in a blender with enough olive oil to make a puree.

This mix then goes into muffin trays to be frozen. I find that if I line the trays with paper, then once the basil mix is frozen I can remove from the metal trays and throw the frozen patties into a bag. Each time I need to use basil for cooking or pesto it is easy to take a patty of two out of the freezer to use. Or even cut a patty in 1/2 if necessary.

 

 

To make pesto, I don't really use a recipe.

I blend several handfuls of fresh basil with enough olive oil to make a puree ( or use a thawed basil patty or two)

Add a tbsp of nuts to the blender-pine nuts, walnuts or cashews.

Add a tbsp or more of grated parmesan cheese.

Add 1-2 cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper to taste.

Blend all together, and serve on pasta or use as a dip.

A nice variation to plain pasta pesto is to add a few raw diced tomatoes.

Top with more grated parmesan cheese.