It’s that time of year for me in New England. Time to save whatever is left of my garden before the frost gets it. This year, I had a pretty great basil plant that grew heartily and, unlike usual, I was able stay on top of flower bud plucking to keep the plant making delicious leaves. So what does one do with a bunch of basil? Make pesto of course!
In my blog, I have mentioned in several posts that I have made a personal choice to reduce the amount of dairy I eat. Mostly I just feel better when I don’t eat it and I find there are so many great, healthy, alternatives, I hardly miss it. Though I do have a little grass-fed butter or raw cheese on occasion. Traditionally pesto is prepared using Parmesan cheese. What I love about pesto is the nutty saltiness and it can be easily made without cheese. This recipe is also raw if you are into that sort of thing.
I purposely left the measurements of this recipe loosey goosey. For me, pesto is about grabbing handfuls, tossing everything in a blender, and adding olive oil until the whole thing comes together. Any ingredient can be decreased or increased to meet your desired taste. I promise that freshly made pesto in your kitchen beats the jarred stuff any day.
Pesto is a fantastic way to add something extra or umami (my new favorite word) to any dish. I use it in anything from pasta sauce, as a condiment on sandwiches, meat marinade, on pizza, or even plain as a dip. A little can go a long way, so I usually just freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost as needed. I hope you enjoy it!
- Fresh basil (enough to loosely fill your food processor)
- 1 handful of raw pine nuts or raw walnuts
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt (generous amount, to taste)
- Add nuts, lemon juice and salt to food processor containing basil.
- Turn on food processor.
- Carefully drizzle olive oil, while running, until pesto comes together to desired consistency and the ingredients are well combined.
- Taste pesto and add more salt if needed.