Thursday, June 9, 2011

Green Gold

I think it's Susan Branch who refers to pesto as "green gold" in her illustrated recipe book, "Vineyard Seasons".
It's a perfect description.




It is only the yummiest condiment on the face of the earth!


Spread thickly on Italian bread and topped with garden fresh tomatoes. swoon!


Tossed with warm pasta and cherry tomatoes. aaaaahhhh!


Baked into a cheese pizza, instead of tomato sauce. OMG!


You can buy pesto at the grocery store (for about the price of gold!), but freshly made is definitely the best.




Basil is the key ingredient in green gold and every year I mourn when I am too lazy to grow some.


Just the smell of basil is intoxicating



So this year I gave myself a kick in the pants and planted basil in some containers left on our patio by the previous owners. I bought a couple of plants and the rest is started from seeds. It took an hour out of my life to prepare the pots with fresh soil and plant, but I will reap huge wealth in about 6 weeks or so!So how do you spin basil leaves into green gold?


In a food processor of course!


Add olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic(!), salt and pepper.




I consider the pine nuts/ walnuts optional, but the rest is essential.

I will post again when I spin some myself.


I am already drooling in anticipation.


7 comments:

Linda Jo said...

Sounds yummy. Sounds like it would make great gifts that you could mail to your great blogging friends, maybe!!!

Jill said...

I have never made pesto but I use my basil just chopped with tomatoes and chunks of mozzarella cheese. I also dry it. You are right :::swoon::: I was chewing on a piece of basil yesterday in the garden, my daughter thought that might be icky. nah huh. Mostly though I like to touch and smell it. So glad you took the time to plant some. Next year I want to go from seed only. But, with my germination rate of this year I'm not so sure that's a good idea.

Ann said...

sounds soooooooo good!!
i never grow anything..i have a black thumb!! my husband,however,can grow anything!!..maybe he will plant some..if i even look at a plant it will die!!

femminismo said...

Oh, yeah! Basil is tremendous stuff. I love using it on sandwiches, just like lettuce but more sparingly. It makes everything better. Enjoy!

Joanna said...

I've never made my own pesto but think I will have to give it a go now! I've got basil in the garden, and i LOVE it, it's always being ripped up and thrown in things.

xx
hey, guess what, I found the coasters, hooray!! I'll get on with them now xx

~*~Patty S said...

too funny
we just had pasta pesto and sliced brown tomatoes (really delicious heirloom variety from Canada) for dinner last night...we haven't had pasta in ages and it's been a long while for pesto too...Love the garlic in it and the pine nuts and the whole shabang!
Happy rest of the weekend!
oxo

BadPenny said...

I have never been able to grow or keep basil plants sucesfully !