Basil pesto
If there’s one thing that is synonymous with summer, it has to be basil. That’s why I never forget to buy countless basil plants of literally every kind; Genovese, purple and lemon basil, the list goes on.. I love taking care of them -although I know most will be gone or used in no time- and at the beginning of autumn, I always like to make our all-time favourite pesto. I make pesto quite often throughout summer but now it’s time to make use of most of my plants before basil season is over, fill up as many jars as possible with pesto sauce and store them for the winter.
Basil is definitely my favourite herb, no doubt about it. Summer and seasonal cooking begins only after all my basil plants are all lined up in their beautiful pots.
Absolutely love the scent and aftertaste basil adds to a recipe, hence it’s found in almost every single one of my summer dishes. Whenever a basil plant is around, everyone will just naturally shake the leaves and take a deep breath to inhale its fresh, invigorating smell. Basil simply deserves the crown of the king of herbs. And what’s the perfect match for a king? The ultimate summer queen, tomato! The definition of a killer summer combo!
There’s not much to talk about here, everyone already knows and loves a good pesto. Although this recipe is probably nothing new to you, it’s definitely a very accurate description of what’s going on in my kitchen these days and a friendly reminder to those of you who haven’t made pesto for a while, so why not today?
By following a few simple steps to make fresh pesto and then storing it in the freezer, you’ll be able to almost feel the bright summer sunlight amid winter chills, each time you open a jar with your very own homemade, delicious pesto sauce.
After a lot of trial and error, it seems that I always go back to the classic pesto sauce that I like to store in mason jars in the freezer. This allows my sauce to keep its bright green colour and a fresh aroma and flavour.
Fill up your freezer with as many jars with pesto sauce as possible. This way, you can make lovely pesto pasta any time you want to or add it to a bunch of different recipes. Potato salad and grilled potatoes go perfectly with pesto but you can also add it to a caprese salad or on top of grilled veggies and meats for some extra flavour!
Ingredients
for two small jars:
2 bunches sweet basil
4-6 garlic cloves
200ml olive oil
2tbsp toasted pine nuts
80g parmesan cut in smaller pieces
Salt
Clean, sterilized jars
Method
1. Wash the basil leaves a little while before cutting them, so that they’re dry when you use them. Basil leaves are quite sensitive and might be damaged or appear some black spots when you wash them. Cut the dry and healthy basil leaves and place them along with the rest of the ingredients into a blender. The quantities of garlic and salt depend on your personal taste. Blend the sauce until smooth and evenly mixed.
2. Sterilize your jars, I personally wash them and put them in the oven at 100C for 30 minutes. Fill and seal the jars, then store them in the freezer. I usually prefer small jars for basil pesto so that one jar is just enough for one use, as the leftovers tend to go bad really quickly after unsealing the jar. Remove the jar from the freezer 1 hour before use to defrost it.
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