How to Make Pesto Anything
Basil is in high season in the hot summer months — July and August. Pinch the basil flowers off to keep production high.
Did you know you can make pesto out of more than just basil?
Yes.
While you wait for that bombshell to sink in, let me also inform you of something else pretty fantastic:
You can freeze pesto.
Mind blowing up.
To make pesto, you pretty much just need some greens. And if you’re in our CSA, you know that those greens can get away from you sometimes.
Never fear! Just turn it into some pesto when you start to get overwhelmed, and eat your greens next winter.
The Pesto Formula:
Herbs/greens + cheese + nuts + garlic + oil + salt = pestoSound simple? It is! The hardest part of making pesto will be choosing and gathering your ingredients. If you are keen on experimenting in the kitchen, try inventing your own signature pesto by:
- Something green (or purple, if it’s your basil this week): There is a lot of flexibility here, but choose at least one green with an aggressive flavor. Basil is a traditional favorite, but there are also wonderful pestos to be made from parsley, mint, arugula, kale, even blanched broccoli. Mix and match greens at will.
- Cheese: Parmesan is traditional, but as long as it’s a hard cheese you’ve got a lot of flexibility. Asiago, pecorino, and romano are all good choices as well. Use what you’ve got in the fridge, or try something new.
- Nuts: Pine nuts, walnuts, and almonds are good choices. Toast them a little in a dry skillet before making your pesto to enhance their flavor and make them break down more quickly in the blender.
- Garlic: You can use fresh uncured garlic, garlic scapes, garlic chives, or garlic cloves from a cured, dried bulb.
- Oil: Extra-virgin olive oil is a good choice to start with, try blending in some almond or walnut oil to complement the flavor of the nuts you’ve used in your pesto.
- Salt: kosher, table, Himalayan, sea. Use what you’ve got!
- Very optional: Acid of some kind. Fresh lemon juice, vinegar, lemon zest are good options.
Blending method:
It’s definitely easiest to use a blender or food processor, but if you don’t have one of those appliances, all is not lost. You can make great pesto with just your knife and cutting board—simply chop all your ingredients to the desired level of fineness, stir in oil and season with salt to taste.
Uses of Pesto:
The most traditional use of pesto is as a sauce for pasta, but it can be used as a condiment for meat—I especially like it on grilled steak.
Mix a spoonful or two of pesto into some mayonnaise or cream cheese, or with mashed avocado to make a wonderful sandwich spread.
Thin pesto with more vinegar and olive oil to make a salad dressing.
Storage:
Pesto will keep in the refrigerator, stored in a glass jar and covered with a thin layer of olive oil, for several weeks. It also freezes very well. Consider freezing some pesto in an ice cube tray, then storing the frozen cubes in a bag in the freezer to pull out and add flavor whenever you need it.