Basil Pesto, Garden Fresh
July 28th, 2009 by Leora
My daughter asked, how come you haven’t made this since last year? Because I finally have enough basil to make a pesto! She had no idea that some dishes are seasonal.
Ingredients:
- 40 – 50 leaves of fresh basil
- 1/3 cup of olive oil, cold pressed extra virgin
- 1/3 cup of walnuts (or whatever nuts you choose)
- 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
- 1 box of rotini noodles
(or substitute steamed cauliflower if you are on a low or no carb diet or gluten-free diet)
Boil water for the pasta. When the pasta is almost done, put the nuts, olive oil, basil leaves and salt in the food processor. Blend it all until you have a thick, green paste. You can taste it, if you want to be careful about the amount of salt (or just because it is absolutely yummy!). Drain the water from the pasta, put the pasta in serving bowl, and mix in the basil pesto paste. You can either eat this right away or refrigerate it and serve cold the next day.
Optional: the traditional way to make pesto is with parmesan cheese, so you can also had 1/3 cup grated parmesan to your pesto. In addition to experimenting with different nuts, pesto can also be made from sage or parsley. If you have any variations you want to share, please do so.
This is one of my favorite summer treats. It has two healthy fats, olive oil and walnuts. Contrary to popular belief, studies showed almond eaters lost weight instead of gaining.
This looks wonderful and something I might try. I sometimes eat blue pesto.
This looks really delicious!
Random bit of trivia for the day: The Hebrew word for basil is בזיליקום (“bah-ZEE-likoom”).
Great addition to the post, thanks. BahZeelikoom is (are?) delicious. Long word, definitely not Hebrew in origin.
Technically, the official Hebrew word is ריחן (“ray-chan”, from the word ריח – “ray-ach” meaning “smell”), but AFAIK, no one calls it that.
Sounds good, maybe I’ll try it out today.
Your photo is wonderful, making me drool for pesto.
Nice recipe!
Hi Leora, I love pesto so I will be sure to try this delightful dish.
Please send to KCC!
I’m sure you love to be tagged.
Thanks for the reminder on part 1 of your comment. Oy on part 2. I’m scared to click.
MAN that looks delicious!!!
I love pesto, especially made with your own basil!I’m afraid I’ll have to buy some now to make this yummy pasta.
Looks great and I like the idea of using cauliflower. I have to try it out hehe! Thanks.
Somehow I missed that post! Have to try it. Perfect excuse to stuff myself with pasta walnuts and olive oil – all my favorite! Thank you! I’m on a look for basil now. Do you grow it in your own spice garden?
Yes, in fact I started growing it the backyard, but because of animal problems and because I’m tired of grass, I’m growing a lot in my front yard. The front yard crop is abundant (I must get more sun there, too).
I believe pine nuts are the traditional nut to use for this. Love pesto. Have lots of basil.
I can’t wait until my tomatoes are ready, so I can do tomato slices with mozzarella cheese, olive oil and chopped basil.
Yes, true, pine nuts are traditional. But I guess I first tried pine nuts and the ones I used were not fresh, so I switched to walnuts, which are easier to get fresh.
I finally have ripe cherry tomatoes. I picked some ripening larger ones and put them in a plastic bag, because my first larger one rotted from all the rain we’ve had in New Jersey.
We got a bunch of ripe cherry tomatoes this week too. Prior to that, we’d had an odd one or two. Can’t wait for my big ol’ Brandywines to ripen.
Leora, this looks delicious!
Thanks for the visit to my blog for Summer Stock Sunday.
I’m totally inspired by this picture… yum!
Always make your pesto by hand if you have the opportunity to do so. It is the best!