Pesto

[Tiam]

Do you make your own? Do you freeze it? Does that work well?

[cdttmm]

Yes, we make our own and it is fantastic, IMHO. We combine basil and olive oil in the food processor and save it in small containers. In the middle of winter, we use that as the base for pesto adding garlic, walnuts or pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. We do the same thing with sage to make a sage pesto. That one works best with walnuts - have not tried it with pine nuts. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, too.

[Tiam]

Guess I'll have to figure out how to do it without a food processor.

[puglogic]

Do you have a blender, Tiam? I use my blender. I have to scrape it down with a spatula quite a bit more, but it works (eventually)

[Tiam]

Yes I have a blender. I might look at the goodwill tomorrow for a simple processes too.

[iris lily]

I love pesto and have a couple of frieinds who make large batches and give us some of it. Pine nuts are pretty expensive, though.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea I make my own with basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, and walnuts. It's my own adaptation of the standard recipe with walnuts instead of pine nuts and no cheese. I make it in the blender.

I freeze it, it lasts for months and it's delicious. I usually use it in the traditional way, with pasta.

[IshbelRobertson]

I make my own, as I need it. Nowadays, basil is available all year round, so there is no need for me to make more than I need at one time. I always use pine nuts, though. I seldom freeze foods, although I own a large freezer!

[Rosemary]

I make parsley-walnut pesto, too.

[cdttmm]

Yes, pine nuts are expensive, so I tend to use walnuts unless I'm feeling frivolous! when I'm at the grocery store! :)

Tiam, a blender will definitely work so don't knock yourself out hunting for a food processor to buy - unless you have lots of other reasons to own another small kitchen appliance!

We grow our own basil and sage, which is why we freeze the pesto bases for later use. To buy organic basil and sage here in the winter would be very expensive. Both herbs are easy to grow, so even if you don't have a lot of space for a garden you could grow them in pots or in window boxes. I've never grown parsley, so I may have to try that next year!

We use pesto on pasta, as a sandwich spread (blend it with a little homemade mayo if you like a creamier spread), and, most importantly, on homemade pizza. I love a good pesto pizza so this is my primary motivation for putting in the effort to make my own.

Has anybody tried making pesto with different types of cheese? I'm guessing most hard cheeses would work pretty well...maybe I will experiment.

[Tiam]

I make my own, as I need it. Nowadays, basil is available all year round, so there is no need for me to make more than I need at one time. I always use pine nuts, though. I seldom freeze foods, although I own a large freezer!



I think because my Basil is abundant and needs to be harvested, so I'm thinking along those lines.

[treehugger]

Yes, yes, and yes. :) We also grow lots of basil all summer so we make pesto and freeze it as a way to preserve our harvest. I have seen instructions for leaving out the cheese for freezing, but I've tried it both ways and can't see/taste a difference, so now I make the complete recipe for freezing. We don't, however, include nuts since my husband is allergic.

I find it's a good idea to freeze it in different amounts, so you can defrost just the amount you need.

Like many others, we love pesto as pasta sauce and pizza sauce, but also really enjoy it as a dressing (mixed with white wine vinegar and more olive oil) for pasta salad. Just made some of that last week, actually, with the first trimmings.

Kara

[creaker]

I haven't tried it yet - and it's late in the year for it. But garlic mustard plants (an invasive here in US) are suppose to make a great pesto.

[Rosemary]

I haven't tried different types of cheese; in fact, I usually leave the cheese out entirely. The herbs, nuts, garlic, and salt have plenty of flavor without it.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Yes, I grow sweet basil and my husband makes the pesto. We freeze it to use in pasta and other things. It is WONDERFUL.

Treehugger my husband can't eat nuts either but not because of allergy, so we substitute walnut oil in the recipe and it works great. But, if he is allergic then the oil wouldn't work for you then.

[Tiam]

I have lots of basil in the garden right now. The parsley is bolting, so it's time to plant some new.

[SoSimple]

I've made pesto with goat cheese and ricotta and it actually works okay. Texture is different, but the taste is good - a little sharper, so using walnuts works better than using pine nuts.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

We made pesto today - looks to be a good batch!