I have a bunch of stories to publish from Anne, but if you're like me, you may have a lot of basil in your garden, so I thought this one extremely timely, enjoy:

Pasta al Vero Pesto alla Genovese

Thanks Anne.

Very interesting. How does one go about picking the very best Basil in a regular grocery store here? Sounds like that's really important.

Sharon J

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Originally posted by Sharon J: How does one go about picking the very best Basil in a regular grocery store here?
Sharon J

Hello Sharon,

From our experience in making pesto, it's quite important to use young leaves, something not always mentioned in recipes. You usually won't find these at a supermarket or even a grocery shop.
Best thing to do is to grow the basil yourself - it's an easy plant to grow, just needs sunshine and water. Of course this way you gain the added zest of freshness. Once you succeed with the first plant, you can buy seeds of special varieties according to your taste.

thanks for reminding me that I need to go out and uproot our basil and make pesto before we leave for Italy in a week. It will be all gone to seed when we return!

When making that last batch of pesto I strip off all the leaves and flash-freeze what I don't use for the pesto (i.e., the larger leaves). Once the leaves are frozen I QUICKLY crumble them up and put into a zip lock bag in the freezer to use all winter long instead of dried basil from a jar.

Also, I've always frozen pesto complete with cheese and (olive) oil and never had any problems, complaints or odd smells. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy the fresh, bright taste of basil all year long!

quote:

From our experience in making pesto, it's quite important to use young leaves, something not always mentioned in recipes. You usually won't find these at a supermarket or even a grocery shop.
Best thing to do is to grow the basil yourself

Hmm, we live in a garden home and don't have a plot of land for this. Will it grow in a pot? Somehow, I don't think that will be enough room.

Sharon J

Sharon, basil easily grows in a pot. I have kept a plant going for years.

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Sharon, basil easily grows in a pot. I have kept a plant going for years.

Thanks Stephen. I'll be planting my Basil ASAP.

Sharon J

When we were house-sitting in Florida recently I couldn't help myself when I saw some really nice looking basil plants. Since we were going to be there for 6 weeks I thought it was worth the investment, but I really didn't want to buy pots - I knew I had tons of them at home - so I bought 2 cheap buckets at the dollar store, filled them with the 'moisture-release' potting soil, and they've been happy ever since! The handles on the buckets allowed me to pick them up easily and the fact that there were no drainage holes meant that I could sit them in the car without having to worry about dirt/water. Generally I'd recommend pots with some drainage, but in a pinch, use whatever you have!

For a nice variation, add the zest from an orange to your pesto. Also, if the basil tastes too strong for you, add some arugala or Italian parsley to make it milder.

We grow our basil only in pots now and it flourishes in the Texas heat. We place the pots where the plants will get morning sun and afternoon shade. I agree that the small leaves are best for pesto. I've already started harvesting basil and making pesto, then freezing it in small containers for the winter. I omit the cheese and pine nuts and then add them later when I defrost the frozen product. Actually, I don't use the nuts anymore because of the fat and cholesterol.

Nancy L