Pesto

I have had an extremely successful basil year. All of my basil was grown from seed. I used left over plastic tree tubs to hold the bagged dirt. The bottom half was filled with mulch to economize. I think the black plastic has helped keep the dirt warm since we've had such a cool summer. Where is global warming when you need it?

I have been able to harvest several times as well as frequently pinch off a little here and there for meals.

Homemade pesto is not a health conscious but we love it!

For years it has been "date food" for my honey and me. We would put the kids to bed and watch a movie with a bowl of pesto and a hunk of crusty sourdough. Now that the kids love it as much as we do we can't get away with that.

Store bought pesto is expensive and, like everything else, a mere shadow of the homemade stuff.

Making it is simple in a food processor. We use walnuts because we typically have them in abundance from my grandparents. Pine nuts are preferred by many.

Place 1 cup of soft nuts, several cloves of garlic (depending on your taste -- one may be enough), one cup of shredded Parmesan and one cube of melted butter. Process a few seconds and add by the handful, 4 cups of fresh basil leaves and the soft green stems. The exact amounts can vary slightly to suit your taste.

You can remove the leaves from the stems completely but I use the stems if they are not woody. Sometimes I have to add a little olive oil if it is too thick.

You can actually replace the butter with olive oil or a combination of both. Extra virgin olive oil gives it a different flavor and a softer texture. When you refrigerate pesto made with butter, it hardens.

I have made several batches to keep in the freezer this year. The other night we had friends over (waving at DeeAnn) and pulled a ziplock bag from the freezer to make pesto pizza. It was so convenient. The recipe above filled two quart sized bags.

If you want to eat it as a dip, either heat in an oven safe bowl while you heat your bread or microwave it about 30 seconds until the green color deepens and the cheese is bubbly.

Leftovers keep about a week in the fridge and if used as a spread, turn boring sandwiches into gourmet meals.