Monday, September 14, 2009

Burning through a bumper crop of basil.


Darlings,

My sweet house has one of the tiniest yards I have ever seen that still qualifies as a yard. Nonetheless, my Mister and I have always been big gardeners (and probably always will be) and maximize our small space for greenery. This year, some of our edibles include three varieties of basil. Basil start out slowly in the Northwest (they are too fragile to make it outdoors without a cold frame until well after Mothers' Day), but they went crazy this year. In honor of this bumper crop, I made a few (okay five!) batches of pesto yesterday. What fun times! I cannot wait to give a few jars away as gifts.


I used two different recipes: one savory and one sweet. The savory recipe I used (and modified) came from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, by Mollie Katzen. Basically, pesto involves whirring all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and then smearing it on whatever you like. The savory recipe I used is as follows:

3 packed cups fresh basil leaves
4 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup toasted walnuts (love those omega-3 fatty acids)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt + pepper to taste

For the sweet basil recipe, I turned to The Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Totally yum on a great crusty bread.

3 packed cups fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 cup toasted walnuts
1/3 + cup olive oil (a running over cup)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
salt + pepper to taste

Our next basil project (I still have about 2-1/2 plants left to harvest) is a cocktail...one of my favorites in fact!

Happy Monday, I'm off to teach yoga.
Peace. & LOVE. always.
{photos by BK.}

3 comments:

  1. homemade pesto - yummy! i might try that top recipe...thanks for sharing!

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  2. I adore fresh basil--as pesto it's divine but fresh in salads it's pretty amazing as well. I planted a rosemary out front at our new place but will hopefully have basil on the deck soon enough.

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  3. aimee, definitely let me know if you do!! xxoo

    ambika, ooh! rosemary is another of my faves! i want to make rosemary bread this fall. *))))

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