How to Make Basil Pesto

Being blessed with an abundance of fresh basil this year, means making a delicious basil pesto to freeze for later!

How to Make Basil Pesto.

• 4 cups of fresh basil leaves
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
• 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese.

You will want to wash the cuttings and break the leaves away from the stems where I’ve circled.

Then lay all the leaves out on a towel to dry.

I’m such a dork and totally forgot to take pictures of this part.

Put the basil, oil and garlic in a food processor and minced them together. Take the lid off occasionally  and scrape the edges so the leaves don’t stick to the edge. Once the basil leaves are all minced add in the cheese which will thicken it a little. Presto! It’s pesto!

*edit. I found an article saying to use ice cube trays to freeze your basil pesto. I think the silicon ice cube trays work best, but even plastic trays work and the entire process is much easier than what I used to do.

Then I scoped the basil pesto out in tablespoon sized balls onto a cookie pan.

Basil Pesto

Stick the pan in the freezer for a few hours.

Then I quickly wrapped each ball in plastic wrap, and then put them in a Ziploc freezer bag. That is to keep the freezer burn away.

Last year I just scoped it all into a bag without making balls and then I just broke pieces off as I needed it. However, it started to freezer burn after a couple of months and I didn’t want that.

Do you want to grow your own basil? Check out this series from Practically Functional.

So, three hours later I am finishing this post, Know why? Thinking about basil and pesto, got me to thinking about a big bowl of Fettuccine Alfredo! So guess what supper was!