Make basil into pesto, and the fresh flavors from your garden can last into the winter

How’s your vegetable garden growing this year? Assuming you have one, you might be at that stage of the summer where you’re overwhelmed with produce and looking for ways to share or save some for the fall and winter.

This year my husband grew our basil in two pots. One pot was grown from seed and the other from a small plant he purchased. Surprisingly, both are huge and about the same size. Each summer, a big pesto making session commences in our kitchen so that we can capture some of that deliciousness and save some for later in the year. Of course pesto is best when made fresh, and I’ve also found it keeps pretty well if you freeze it in little jars.

Last week, we went up to Iowa. Every time we see my aunt’s massive garden, it makes Randy and me jealous. She grows so much produce that she cans some for the winter and hardly buys any veggies all summer long. They live on an acre though, so they have lots of room. Plus there’s something about that Iowa fertile soil. It’s magic.

Making pesto is quite simple. You need a food processor, basil, garlic, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil and kosher salt. This recipe makes a nice paste version of pesto. Should you want to use it as a pasta sauce or salad dressing, simply add more olive oil.

Pesto is excellent on about anything. Grilled meats, crostini, drizzled on top of caprese salad, as a sauce for pizza and the list goes on. I can eat it by the spoonful. The flavor is irresistible and it just takes a few minutes to make.

It will store in the fridge for a week or two, and you can also freeze it in jars, or I’ve heard of friends freezing it in ice cube trays to use for single servings. I don’t know much about single servings, so I never make it that way. Even if it’s just a weeknight dinner for two, somehow there’s always leftovers at our house.

This recipe is simple to double if your basil plants look anything like ours. I ran down to Nifty Nuthouse yesterday to get pine nuts. They are an expensive little nut, so if you’d rather substitute with something a bit more cost-effective, pecans or cashews will work, too.

However you enjoy your pesto, be sure to freeze a bit. You’ll thank yourself come cold winter months.

Pesto

3 cups fresh basil, rinsed and leaves removed from the stem

4 garlic cloves

¾ cup toasted pine nuts

½ cup Parmesan

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt, to taste

In the bowl of a food processor, add basil and process until finely chopped. Add garlic and pine nuts and process again until those ingredients are similar size as the basil – the consistency should be almost a paste. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil through the lid until you have the desired consistency. Taste with a spoon and add kosher salt if needed. Process again to stir in the salt.

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 12:58 PM.