Preserving Your Bounty of Fresh Basil

I am just a little behind on blogging here at the Hippy Homemaker because I took some time off to focus on spending time with the boys before the oldest headed off for his summer visit with dad in good ole' Kentucky. It sure would be a lot simpler if we lived closer, but for now we live about 20 hours away. Because of this, my son has more flier miles than I will ever have. I am always putting him on a plane. I can't remember the last time I flew, but although Kentucky is beautiful country, I must confess I'd rather fly somewhere with mountains and/or ocean beaches.

Mr. Frequent Flier. Meanwhile, I am a little behind on my garden too. I have an abundance of fresh basil I don't feel like I am using fast enough, especially now that it is just me and the little one. I decided I needed to preserve some of this summer goodness for the bleak winter, which in San Antonio consists of one long dreary month where we complain about the cold and feel guilty doing so when we hear about the weather from our neighbors in the north.

I have always just tied bundles of basil together and hung them upside down to dry in the late summer heat. This year I am freezing it two ways; as a puree in oil and slightly changed up for pesto. For the strait basil and oil puree, wash and dry a big bunch of leaves. Fill up your food processor bowl and pulse until leaves are finely chopped. Add 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and continue pulsing until oil is evenly distributed. To freeze, either put in plastic freezer bags and lay flat in freezer or freeze by the tablespoon in ice cube trays and transfer to freezer containers.

 

Freezer Pesto

1/3 cup pine nuts

2 cups firmly packed basil leaves

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place nuts in a food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times. Add basil and pulse a few more times. Repeat step with lemon juice. While running the food processor, add olive oil a little at a time. Scrape down sides and process until pureed. Place mixture into a quart sized freezer bag and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Freeze lying flat. 

*note -  I didn't have any freezer bags and I am in the process of switching from plastic to glass, so I froze mine in a small glass jar. 

When ready to use add:

2 Tbsp chopped fresh garlic

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

If desired, 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Puree into thawed basil mixture. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Authentic Pesto

One thing that is always a staple in my garden is basil. When my tomatoes wilt under the hot Texas sun and I become disenchanted with gardening in such harsh conditions once again (it is a seasonal disorder with me), I can always count on my basil. I usually plant way more than I can use. Making homemade pesto is one of those "have to" summer activities, but it has taken me a while to get around to making a batch this year. The boys and I got invited to a potluck yesterday, so I finally made my way out to the garden to pick a handful of the fragrant herb and mix up a batch of fresh pesto to serve with some chewy garlic sourdough bread. There was no pesto left to take home at the end of the night, a pleasing compliment to the chef.

I couldn't find the pesto recipe I usually work from, so I turned to one of my favorite food blogs, 101 Cookbooks. The process of making authentic pesto involves a lot of chopping. I must confess I don't own a single good knife. When I moved in with my husband, he owned a good set of knives. He took them with him when he moved out. Nough said. My single knife is a $3 bargain that I picked up after he left from, ugh, yeah...Walmart. Yes, that is my El Cheapo knife in the photo below. I chopped and chopped the best I could and here I hang my head in shame, unable to look all the Italian grandmothers in the eye. I resorted to my little food processor to finish the chopping. You just gotta work with what you have. It still tasted delicious.

Pesto

1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
3 medium cloves of garlic
one small handful of raw pine nuts
roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED
A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Start by chopping the garlic, then add in the basil leaves in small bunches and continue chopping. Once you have the basil and garlic chopped fairly consistently, add in the pine nuts and chop some more.  Here is where I resorted to the food processor. Add all the chopped ingredients into the food processor with the Parmesan cheese. Pulse until all ingredients are chopped. Do not over process. You want it to remain fairly course, not a fine paste. Scrape into small bowl and add olive oil. I used about 4 tablespoons to get the desired consistency I wanted.

For more detailed directions on how to make pesto like an Italian grandma, visit 101 Cookbooks. No food processors, but plenty of sharp knives.