I know i posted a recipe for Edamame Pesto not all that long ago, and posting this leaves me running the risk of making you all think I can't actually cook anything else, but in my freezer-packing furry, pesto has become a major staple around here. Whew. That was such a poorly written run-on sentence. Sorry 'bout that.
In any case, my favorite pesto recipe of all time is so very simple::
1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves
1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nut/sunflower seed combo (or all sunflower seeds if you have folks with nut allergies) The picture is from a doubled or tripled recipe-- I really do know how to measure.
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup parm cheese.
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Mash all together the old fashioned way or through in a food processor and blend.
I leave the cheese out when doing this:
Freezing pesto in individual cubes makes for easy storage (you can fill a glass jar for the freezer and just pluck one or two out as needed or just leave them right in the trays. I use the BPA free Fresh Baby ones, that I still had from making Lizzie's baby food. They are really easy to get out-- I've found the cheap plastic trays crack with stuff like pesto frozen in them.
If you want to mix it up try adding some fresh tomatoes to the mix-- a BIG hit around here.
You could also roast some of the last bits of summer squash and blend those in (sound yummy)....
Or maybe even scoop some butternut squash that has been cooked in...With pesto, the possibilities are endless. And did I mention, pesto takes about 6 minutes, start to finish, to make???
