The local growing season is winding down, and it’s time, before the first frost, to preserve your herb garden. I’m gonna start with basil.
Every year I plant a lot of basil; “a lot’ is a relative term; it’s a lot for my personal use, usually in the range of a dozen plants. This year was no different. I planted 8 Genovese (Sweet Italian) Basil plants, 2 Thai Basil and 2 Piccolo Basil plants.
Throughout the growing season, I pick leaves and use them as needed. Genovese in salads, on pizza, sandwiches, and whatever Mediterranean-style recipe calling for fresh basil. The Thai basil gets used in, you guessed it, Thai dishes as well as other Asian style stir-fries, salads, or wraps I happen to make. The Piccolo, I mostly use for dried basil; I will probably write about this in another upcoming “Preserving the Season” blog about drying herbs.
Throughout the season, as the plants produce buds, I pull them off and place them in little bowls on a sunny windowsill in my kitchen to let them dry, before placing them in airtight containers for use throughout the year.
The bulk of the basil that I grow goes into making pesto. Using the Genovese basil, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, EVOO, garlic, and salt, I make big batches. After making the pesto, I separate it into 4-ounce cups and freeze it for later use. As of now, I have about 30 of these 4-ounce pesto cups in my freezer, ready to go.
We will be having a lot of pesto-based meals in the future; this is not a bad thing. Pasta with some veggies and pesto can be made in the time it takes to cook some high-quality dried Italian pasta. A delicious, inexpensive 20-minute dinner is at times just what is needed.
Don’t limit the pesto use to just pasta; it’s also great on chicken, pork, salmon, in sandwiches, with burrata, drizzled on a rustic soup, in potato or bean salads. It’s very versatile; just use a little bit of imagination and run with it. If you’re adding pesto to a dish, you’re bound to be making that dish better.
My go-to recipe uses pine nuts; you don’t have to, they tend to be expensive and sometimes hard to find. I have seen them at Costco, in bulk, 2-pound bags, at reasonable pricing. You can substitute other nuts with great results. I have made pesto with almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts in the past; all were great.
