Pesto Recipe

[Equilibrium]

Pesto Recipe sent to me from another friend

Spicy bush basil
Ocimum basilicum var. minimum
Pesto Recipe
3/4 cup olive oil
3-5 cloves garlic
3 cups fresh Basil packed
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons Romano cheese (or more parmesan)
Run all the ingredients together in a food processor just until smooth. Or, if you want the very best pesto, mash this in a mortar and pestle. The word Pesto is actually derived from the word pestle and which is how Pesto was first made, by crushing all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle.
This makes enough for one pound of pasta. To serve, the pasta should be drained, returned to the pot and the Pesto added while the pasta is still hot. Mix thoroughly.

If you like to make more than one batch of Pesto at a time and freeze in dinner size batches. One convenient way to freeze small amounts is to use pint size freezer zip-lock bags. Press all the air out and smooth the bag out flat and then stack one on top of the other in the freezer.
To use, let thaw in the refrigerator or heat briefly in the microwave. Pesto makes a wonderful spread for sourdough bread (add a little left over barbecue chicken and a fresh tomato slice on top) and even as a gourmet coating for popcorn.
Basil is best preserved in oil, with or without other Pesto ingredients, and then frozen. Because the oil doesn't freeze hard, little chunks are easily broken off to add to soups and sauces. It's a wonderful quirk of fate that Basil and tomatoes are ready for harvest at the same time. Preserving Sweet Basil in homemade tomato sauce is almost as good as in frozen Pesto, but that is another story.
Now that we have an adequate supply of Pesto, we are reacquainting ourselves with some of its other uses. Three pesto pasta dinners in one week makes us want to reinvent the wheel so we can keep rolling but on down a new track. Enter the pizza. Pizza is such a great facilitator for herbs. You can put herbs in the crust, herbs in the sauce, herbs on top and herbs in the barbeque for scent. We make our Pesto Pizza with a thin layer of tomato sauce, redolent with herbs, of course, topped with alternate blobs of Pesto and ricotta cheese. In the summer, our preferred method of cooking is on the BBQ. We lay our pizza stone right on top of the grill and cook away. Our Weber charcoal grill imparts a deep smoky flavor we don't seem to get on our gas BBQ. Just be sure to make enough!

[biigblueyes]

We have basil in the CSA garden for insect repellent. Maybe I need to snip about 3 cups of leaves to shape those bushes. . . .

[Equilibrium]

This one I wanted because of the pine nuts. I didn't think I'd like it but I did. I'm sure those plants need shaping....

[sprucetree]

Those are great idea's for a meat free pizza; I appreciate the storing tips on the basil. Sounds like I can plant alot and freeze the excess.

Lot's of Italian Dishes utilize Ricotta Cheese It sounds like experimenting with pizza is another possibility

I will certainly "Herb Up" the crust; Maybe I'll start with dill or fennel