My friend Diana has brought over some homemade pesto a couple of times now and we have loved it! She brought me some basil leaves from her plant the other day, and I told her, "Sorry, bring them back when you have turned them into pesto." Not really, I was happy to get free basil leaves and try making pesto on my own. I used Martha Stewart's recipe, and it turned out just fine. Next time I want to add parmesan cheese -- I wanted to this time but totally forgot.
Makes 1 3/4 cups
1 cup walnuts or pine nuts
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 cups (4 ounces) lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until golden and fragrant, tossing once, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Meanwhile, bring 4 cups salted water to a boil; add basil, and submerge with a spoon. Immediately drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water until cool, then pat basil completely dry in paper towels.
In a food processor, combine nuts, basil, and garlic; season generously with salt and pepper. Process until nuts are finely chopped. With machine running, pour oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until smooth. Use immediately, or freeze. To freeze, spoon pesto into an ice-cube tray (2 tablespoons per cube); cover with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight, then transfer cubes to a resealable plastic bag; keep up to 6 months. Defrost pesto at room temperature, about 20 minutes (or at 30-second intervals in the microwave). Mash with a fork before using in recipes.
3 comments:
Marsha - how awesome are you making pesto like Martha?! I love your idea for the thai stir fry too. And, it's so cool that you included pictures of the ingredients. Thanks for telling me about your great blog!
Mmmm, I love good pesto. I've never made it before though. Is the flavor super strong because I have a hard time with strong pesto. It looks so good!
I gave you an award on my blog today. Congrats.
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