Whenever I make pesto throughout the summer,
I always make a big batch.
And I freeze it.
Then, a few weeks later,
I make another batch.
This cutting-back of your basil
keeps the plant from maturing,
or going to flower and seed,
thus forcing it to produce more and more leaves,
so you can make more and more pesto.
Here's a handy tip for you:
Go cut off a stem of basil.
Remove the bottom leaves.
Put it in a glass of water,
let it root,
then plant in Miracle-Gro potting soil
and keep in the kitchen for snipping.
If herbs are easily accessible,
one tends to use them.
For example,
Mr. Hawthorne would never go down the steps to pick any herb.
He'd whine <Inset nasal voice here.>,
"I don't know where the parsley is."
Hint: My parsley is a weed. It's freakin' everywhere.
So an indoor herb garden would be perfect for him.
Already, on the deck,
I have regular chives and garlic chives and scallions
growing in containers.
I digress.
Back to the pesto.
In case you missed my recipe for pesto,
HERE it is.
I love pesto.
It's so green.
So fresh.
So bright.
So incredibly good.
Pesto is one amazing product.
Even if you don't grow your own basil,
you can find fresh basil in the supermarkets.
I urge you to try making your own pesto.
Just scale my recipe down.
Mix.
Taste.
Adjust.
Taste.
Make it work.
Now, what to do with pesto?
Make some pesto pasta.
Cook some pasta.
Rotini or fusselli (corkscrews) would be excellent
since the shape of the pasta holds the pesto.
Drain the pasta
and toss with the pesto.
From this starting point,
the possibilities are endless:
Pesto and cream cheese,
maybe add some sun-dried tomato,
on a cracker.
Pesto on a slice of apple..
Pesto slathered on a chicken or turkey sandwich,
with tomato, lettuce, and cheese,
sliced avocado and bacon and arugula.
Pesto on a baked potato.
So many, many more.
Oh my ...
I've digressed once again.
Sorry.
Back to my Rosie Tip #187
on freezing pesto.
Since I make such large portions of pesto,
I need to freeze it.
I spread it into ice cube trays,
cover with plastic wrap,
and freeze.
When the pesto cubes are frozen,
pop them out into freezer bags.
Press air out of the bag,
seal,
and freeze.
Whenever you need pesto,
you have it.
Pesto is a wonderful thing.
Trust Rosie on this.
Go make pesto.
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