Image via WikipediaKrista's Basil Pesto
(from Krista)
Last year I went looking for recipes when I had a great abundance of basil that I didn’t want to go to waste. I found several blogs where those posting said they had great success freezing “basil pesto”. I took the plunge last year and made several batches of basil pesto and put it in the freezer. Some I froze in one cup amounts to be used with pasta recipes, and the remainder I froze in ice cube trays which I later bagged in freezer bags once it was frozen. This allowed me to take out small amounts to use on crostini’s or whatever. It was wonderful. Even after freezing, it still had a pretty bright green color and the flavor was great.
Below is the basic Basil Pesto recipe I used and froze with great success. I just finished making a couple of batches and putting them in the freezer for this winter.
Basil Pesto
3 cloves garlic
2-3 cups fresh basil
3 T. pine nuts
Dash of salt and pepper
Blend in food processor until well chopped
Add:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Processes until well blended
Use immediately or freeze for later use.
We enjoy thinly slicing a baguette into rounds, spreading on basil pesto, a thin slice of tomato and topping with feta cheese. Heat on grill or in oven until bread is toasty.
Another way we like to use the basil pesto is to stir it into warm pasta with sautéed veggies (zucchini, squash, onions, etc.) This is also good served cold.
1 comments:
Is there any substitute for the pine nuts? Sometimes they are hard to find and kind of pricey.
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