Basil pesto

Written on January 16, 2008 by Jen

Filed Under: Food and Drink

It’s that time of year when the basil is abundant. I always grow basil as it’s pretty easy to grow and I just love it. Basil can be used in salads – raw, and in cooking. I also love it as a base ingredient for pesto. As my basil was starting to flower I had to pick a lot of it to make into pesto. Because I’ve now trimmed my basil I’ll get more life out of the plants instead of going all woody.

Basil

The first time I made this pesto I followed some recipe or other but now I know the base ingredients I just put them all into the ancient food processor I have to blend.

The ingredients are:

  • fresh basil (of course)
  • pine nuts (I’ve also used walnuts and not noticed any real difference)
  • fresh garlic
  • olive oil
  • parmesan cheese

I don’t use set amounts but just keep blending and adding ingredients till it looks just about like pesto should. So that’s my really basic and bare-bones recipe.

If you’re after something a bit more precise and variations to the theme try this.

After I made my pesto I cooked up some pasta, put some leftover roast chicken and some of my fresh pesto and had a delicious meal. Mmmm, mmmm.

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Comments (10)

Jayne says:

2008-01-16 11:41:32    


I love basil (we’ve got umpteen plants in The Spouse of The House’s herb garden), I’ll give your recipe a whirl. Thanks :)

Christine Parfitt says:

2008-01-16 04:40:51    


I love basil and basil pesto is delicious. In fact I’m off to cut some right now to put on home made pizza tonight :) )

jeanie says:

2008-01-17 02:35:00    


Ah – we get an really good basil crop here also, and pesto is a mainstay!!!

tiff says:

2008-01-17 02:48:39    


I’m not sure about the taste of basil… I do like pesto sometimes. It sounds nice, your pasta dish.

Babyamore (Trish) says:

2008-01-18 05:28:46    


sounds great – how long does it last – my – ‘potluck recipe ‘pesto went mouldy – grew some penicillin .
I want a herb and little vegie garden to I am looking for tips.

Jen says:

2008-01-18 09:13:31    


Mine lasts a week or two, but when you make it, put it in little containers that can go in the freezer. That way you have pesto when you want.

Stacie says:

2008-01-20 12:10:41    


My mom has a huge herb garden and I love her pesto…basil is such a rich herb…looks like you and JJ are having a great summer…that tent looks great, and I would be so proud of him too for staying in it all night!!!

Jayne says:

2008-01-20 08:27:06    


Tried it on tuna steaks last night -fabulous!
Mentioned it in a recipe today ;)

Barmus » Blog Archive » All Women Blogging Carnival says:

2008-01-21 08:14:45    


[...] presents Semantically driven: blogging about blogging, parenting and living in Australia. ยป Basil pesto posted at Semantically driven, saying, “Basil is easy to grow and easy to make into pesto. [...]

Barbara says:

2008-01-23 06:44:22    


I love basil and can’t wait until I get my vegie garden happening. I have already got some huge pots ready for my herbs. Your pesto recipe sounds good. I have bookmarked it to try it out as soon as my basil grows :)

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