Abundance of basil About This Page:

[WDWJAMBA]

I planted several containers of herbs on my deck this spring. Mid-summer now, I have basil coming out of my ears!

I would love to make homemade pesto since we always have a jar of store bought in the fridge for pasta, chicken, and the like. Do you make it at home and would you be willing to share your recipe?

[stretch2864]

I hope someone has a recipe as I have a ton of basil in my garden as well!

[Suzie-Q]

Lucky you - my basil is dreadful this year - it's such a picky little plant, and I love it!
I make pesto very free-form and it freezes well, so you can make it and put in in ice cube trays to pop into soups or whatever.
Here is my usual:
In a blender, throw in lots of basil - add in a clove of garlic if you like and some nuts (pine nuts are traditional, but walnuts are great, too) then some cheese if you like (again parmesan is traditional - I've even made it without any cheese) and some olive oil and whizz it up. Taste it and adjust. Throwing in some parsley helps to keep it a brighter green.
I have a recipe for a basil walnut chicken salad that is just soooo good, but it's at home and I'm at work, I'll try to get it, but I'm away next week on holiday, so if I don't get it done - here is a rough version:

Blanch green beans and throw in a bowl with some sliced red onion and chopped cooked chicken. Make a pesto dressing with Basil, olive oil, clove of garlic, bit of dijon mustard and a bit of red wine vinegar. After it is all mixed up, throw in some walnuts and then whirl quickly (you still want some chunky texture) Toss it all together, add sea salt and fresh pepper to taste and enjoy - it's fabulous! You should be able to do a great job with this just by tasting the dressing as you go and it sits well without getting soggy, so it's an amazing dish for picnics or potlucks.

A trick I have done before with garlic and ginger is to blend extra up with a bit of water (you could use some oil, if you want) to thin it. Then I freeze the paste. It's great to have "fresh" ginger on hand. I can't see why that wouldn't work with basil or any herb you have lots of. Just note that one of them changes colour (I think it's the garlic) when it is frozen - it's fine- it just oxidizes.
Man, I need to go get some lunch now

[SarahJ]

I do pretty much the same as Suzie-Q. It's pretty hard to screw up pesto since you can put in as much or little of whatever you want. I like to do basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan or asiago cheese and sometimes roasted red pepers.

[DisneyFanAnn]

no pesto recipes here but wish I had some of it - I love to dry basil and then I use it all winter in my spag. sauce.

[stretch2864]

Originally Posted by DisneyFanAnn

no pesto recipes here but wish I had some of it - I love to dry basil and then I use it all winter in my spag. sauce.

Do you have to do anything special to dry it?

[JoanW]

Mine is going great too. We made the Mozzarella/Basil/Tomato salad last night. We just sliced up some tomatoes and layered it between chiffonade'd basil and sliced mozzarella, and drizzled olive oil and sea salt. There's never left overs.

Chiffonade is where you take the leaves and stack them, larger ones to the outside, roll, and then slice into thin strips. I learned that on Food Network!

[Caldercup]

Yummmmm.... I love Caprese salads, Joan. (Makes me wish I'd had by rear in gear this spring and started by basil.)

Eileen

[DisneyFanAnn]

Originally Posted by stretch2864

Do you have to do anything special to dry it?

Not really -
I wash and pat the leaves dry with paper towels and remove the stems. Put them on a double layer of white paper towels - making sure the leaves are in a single layer. Microwave for 2 minutes or until dry. Crumble and place in sealed container.

One time I wasn't watching and the leaves actually started to flame! Just wanted to mention to watch them ( I've done this a lot and it's only happened once so I'm not sure why it happened that time).

[Luvsun]

I have the same thing happening! I planted it in two places and it has gone crazy!

[saremca]

I use a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis's cookbook. It's pretty similar to the one posted, the lemon juice is the only difference. I make lots of pesto at a time and freeze it. It keeps for a long time that way.

1 garlic clove, peeled
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Into the bowl of a food processor, add the garlic, basil leaves, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Pulse until finely chopped. With the blender still running, slowly pour 1/2 cup of olive oil. Check for a thick, yet smooth consistency, adding more oil if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan.