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Got Basil? Try This Easy Pesto Recipe

Fresh Basil Mint Pesto Sauce | #pasta #freshmint #basil #spaghetti #pizza #easyrecipe

Dear friends,

Are you enjoying the harvest from your garden? We made a batch of pesto from a bunch of fresh basil recently, and I thought you might like the recipe. Instead of the traditional pine nuts, I use almonds in our pesto (more about this below). I like to toast them in the oven to bring out their flavor.

Fresh basil

I also like to add a little fresh mint to the pesto, which gives the pesto an aromatic, complex flavor. You can omit the mint it you don’t have it.

Here’s the easy recipe:

Homemade pesto sauce

Basil Pesto Recipe

  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup fresh packed mint leaves (optional)
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the almonds in the prepared pan and toast for about 8 to 10 minutes, watching carefully and stirring several times, until golden brown.

toasted almonds
Artsy shot of toasted almonds

Cool to room temperature. Combine the almonds, basil leaves, optional mint leaves, and garlic in a food processor.

pesto recipe

Process until the basil and mint are finely chopped. Measure out the olive oil in a spouted measuring cup.

Measure out olive oil

Drizzle in the olive oil with the food processor running, until it is fully incorporated and the pesto is creamy. Add the Parmesan cheese and process briefly, just until combined. Scrape down the sides and process for a few seconds longer.

homemade pesto sauce

Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

pesto recipe

You can add pesto to pasta, chicken, salad dressing, creamy sauces, pizza, grilled foods, stirred in mashed potatoes, in dips, over a steak,  spread on garlic bread, with scrambled eggs, and in dozens of other recipes.

pesto pizza

We freeze the pesto in smaller portions. I prefer to freeze foods in parchment paper so they don’t absorb any chemicals from plastic. To freeze pesto, I fold a piece of parchment paper in half, and then fold in the sides to make a pocket:

Parchment to freeze food

Add the pesto sauce, flatten it out a bit for quicker thawing and tuck the packet in a freezer bag. (I reuse our freezer bags endlessly, for storage purposes only.) At this point, your pesto will look remarkably like a baggie of pot. Or am I just seeing it that way because I live in Colorado?

Freeze pesto in parchment

You can freeze the pesto for up to 6 months. To thaw it, just let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes or so while you’re preparing dinner. By freezing it in a thin, flat piece you can easily break off a chunk if you want to add a little bit to a soup or pasta sauce. In the middle of winter, you’ll be so glad you preserved the summertime flavor of fresh basil.

So why do I prefer toasted almonds in my pesto instead of pine nuts? Perhaps you’d like to read my wicked bad tale about the time I came down with a condition called Pine Mouth from eating three tiny counterfeit nuts.

PineMouth
Pine Mouth is no fun!

The short version of my painful lesson learned:  always buy locally-grown pine nuts, never cheap imports.

Have you been enjoying foods from your garden this month? I’d love to hear what you’re harvesting, cooking and preserving.

Photos: thebittenword.com, Lori L. Stalterl, Jaymis Loveday, Craig Dugas.

About Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross is the author of 17 books, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon. She shares ideas to simplify cooking, gardening, time and money. She is also the owner of Cross Media, Inc. and founder of the BENSA Bacon Lovers Society.

5 thoughts on “Got Basil? Try This Easy Pesto Recipe”

  1. In my neck of the woods – its mushroom time.
    Will be out this weekend with my wife to see what we can find.
    Plenty of Ceps in our local woods – but its the chanterelles which i like best of all.

    Reply

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