Green Gold

I volunteered to water the garden at my son's school for the summer.  The benefit of volunteering was that you get to pick whatever is ready to be harvested in the garden.  I was smiling ear to ear when I arrived to find beautiful basil plants ready to be picked.  I came home with at least 24 cups of basil and it didn't even look like I touched the plants!

 

Look how large the leaves were!  This was like no basil I've seen (or grown) before.  This was basil on steroids.  Of course, basil like this needs to be put to good use as a nice yummy pesto.  I got enough to make myself 5.5 pint sized jars of this liquid gold.  If you have never made pesto, you really should, it is so simple.  Here is a super easy recipe adapted from Martha Stewart (I like more garlic):

BASIL PESTO
4 cups (washed & dried) basil leaves
1/2 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
2 cloves of garlic
salt (lots) & pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

 Dump all the ingredients in a food processor except the olive oil.

Turn your machine on.  Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a steady stream. 

Stop your machine and mix the contents (there is always one lone basil that hasn't been chopped up).  There is a life lesson to be learned from that lone basil :)

 Close up your machine, turn it on, and slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil.  

THAT'S IT.  You are done!  So easy!

I am storing mine in pint sized glass jars in the freezer.  A pint should be just enough for a pound of pasta.  We like to saute mushrooms and chopped tomatoes in a pan and throw them in with the pasta for a complete meal.  Yum!