The cooler mornings and evenings of mid-autumn will see the demise of the basil in the garden. Harvest now and make pesto - lots of it if you have lots of basil, and use it for pasta, adding it to dressings, dolloping it on to cooked vegetables and meats, mixing it through hummus, putting it in and on to everything until you are stick of the sight of it and won't miss it through the winter. Or freeze it for use throughout the winter.
Ingredients
| 3 cups | Basil leaves, tightly packed (Main) |
| 1 | Garlic clove |
| 1 tsp | Salt |
| ½ cup | Extra virgin olive oil |
| ¼ cup | Pine nuts, lightly toasted |
| ¼ cup | Grated parmesan cheese |
| 1 | Lemon, optional |
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Directions
- Pulse basil, garlic, salt and oil in a food processor until it forms a rough paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Add pine nuts and parmesan and pulse again, just to combine.
- Add some extra parmesan and salt to taste and stir through more oil if you would like a thinner consistency. I sometimes add a squeeze of lemon to liven it up.
Note: If I have time I usually make my pesto in a mortar and pestle. It gives more control over the consistency - I like mine quite chunky. Add the ingredients to the mortar in the same sequence as above, omitting the olive oil, pound until you reach consistency desired and stir through oil at the end.
