My Great Challenge: Pesto you can freeze

Hi y'all,

MGC reader Bea, from Tassot Apiaries is sending us this awesome pesto recipe. If you get a chance, do check out Tassot 's shop and website, they have by far the best raw honey and honey products I have tried. You can also read about it from my earlier post Support Your Local Farmers.

So what is pesto anyway?

Here is the always oh so reliable definition from Wikipedia.org:

"Pesto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpesto], Genoese: [ˈpestu]) is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy (pesto genovese),^[1] and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, and European pine nuts blended with olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese), and Fiore Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk).^[2] The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle. However, the ingredients in a traditionally made pesto are not "pounded" but "ground" with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar."

What can you do with pesto?

Traditionally, pesto is used on pasta and can sometimes be called a green sauce. It is rather potent as a taste and a little goes a long way, but most folks love the taste (and crunchiness) of pesto, so you may see a lot of it on a Linguine dish. My husband uses it as a base for pizza instead of tomato sauce. it is delicious as a condiment over a steak or a boiled potato...the possibilities are really endless, if you like the taste of basil and garlic, you are in for a treat.

What do you need?

3 cups packed of Basil, all kinds, purple and green
1/4 Pinoli nuts or walnuts
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil (the darker and thicker variety)
3/4 cup Parmiginao Regiano (I would recommend you buy a block and grate it yourself to ensure the best freshness)

This is more of a visual recipe than anything else, but it is so simple to make, it just makes sense by itself without much direction. Also, because Bea planned for freezing her pesto to use over the winter, she multiplied the quantities above by 8 (To make just about 8 cups):

Here Bea has gathered 3 full bunch of basil including one purple variety.
As you can see, some of her basil is already in bloom and that is
fine, making pesto is a great way to use all that leftover basil that
did not make it to the table on time.

Start separating your leaves and stems and throw away those leaves that
are not in a good shape, wilted or damaged.

Washing basil is just about as easy as washing lettuce, just let it soak in cold
water, either in a clean sink or a large bowl.

Do the same with the purple variety - No purple on hand? No worries, it
tastes just as good with all green!

Remove as much water as possible, you can also use a paper towel
to pat dry the leaves, just be careful not to bruise them.

Add three whole garlic heads, these are from Bea's farm in Milford, NJ. You
can tell they are fresh farmed garlic by the beard (roots) still hanging at the
base, your grocery store will clean that out for aesthetic purposes. Slice the
garlic cloves, they do not have to me minced.

In a stand mixer in the likes of Magimix, KitchenAid or Cuisinart, add the
basil first, then add your garlic, pinoli nuts, Parmesan and olive oil.

After mixing, it should look like this.

Pack your pesto in an air tight container and freeze! Voila!

Bea made 8 cups, that is a lot of delicious pesto and a great way to enjoy
your fresh basil all year long.

I wish I had a fresh steamy baguette right about now to dip in one of these bowls!

A big thank you to MGC reader, Bea from Milford, NJ. This is an awesome recipe and so simple to try!

If you have a recipe, organizational tip or how to you want to share with MGC readers, please join our Facebook page and message me your album and directions, or simply post on the wall.

Thank you all.

Bon appetit,

Sophia, NJ

Tassot Apiaries, Inc.
We turn flowers into gold!™