How to get Pesto all year round

The first step, is to break the belief that pesto is only made with Basil.  Once liberated from this disbelief the world of pesto opens up to you and it always becomes seasonal.  Is this cheating or breaking pesto laws?  Nope, don’t worry there will be no law enforcement breaking in to your home and dragging you out of your home because you got adventurous. At least not this time…

Pesto is a word that derives from the Italian word “pounded” and therefore gives us the freedom to use what ever we wish in it.  The first pestos to be made were not made with basil at all and were made with parsley, cilantro and thyme by the Romans, Greeks and Persians.    All of which were pounded to make a paste.  Most all of them early pestos were only parts of our now classic pesto.  An herb and a nut, or an herb, oil and garlic.  All components did not come together until the 1800’s in the  northern Italian region of Genoa.  Made in a mortar and pestle with only 6 ingredients:  basil, olive oil, cheese,  pine nuts, garlic, and salt pulverized together by mortar and pestle.

But for proper, traditional pesto, you can only enjoy it in the short window of the peak of Basil.  For the rest of the time, and for your cravings for pesto try some of these suggestions: any herb like parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, greens like spinach, nettles, kale, and even things like beets, and butternut squash will make a really uniquely delicious pesto sauce.  The sky is the limit and the variations are endless.   Allergic to nuts, don’t use them and substitute sunflower seeds.  Make it without garlic or try green garlic or garlic scapes.  Play with your nuts…wait…no that is right, try pistachios, walnuts, or pecans!

Today I made three different pestos: Parsley, butternut squash, and beet.  All made with walnuts, Parmesan and olive oil and then tweaked to make their subtle flavors come out and make them each pop with their distinct flavor.  They can be used anyway that you would normally use pesto, which is probably not often enough (just saying).  Make large batches and freeze them, an ice cube tray with parsley pesto can be your secret weapon to easily liven up any dish.  Use beet pesto in sandwiches, and spinach pesto generousnessly as a sauce over any dish.

There you have it. Pesto all year round while still using local fresh ingredients.

Buon appetito!

Basic Pesto recipe with fill in the blank pesto:

2 cups of the ‘main ingredient’ (basil, parsley, cooked beats) roughly chopped

1/2 grated Parmesan or  other hard cheese

1/2 good olive oil

1/3 chopped nuts (pine, walnut, etc)

3 good sized garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine ‘main ingredient’ with olive oil, garlic, nuts, salt and pepper and pulverize with mortar and pestle (or food processor, i own’t tell anyone if you don’t).

If you go the route of food processor here are my tips.  Ruff chop ingredients and Pulse the machine!!!  If you over blend greens they will taste like freshly cut grass, and if you get olive oil at too many RPMs it will taste bitter.  Yuck.  Personally, I fine chop my nuts, garlic and grate my cheese and add then I add that to my pulsed ‘main ingredient’ garlic and olive oil and just stir them together.  This gives me a really well mixed pesto with all my nuts the size I want them, and a paste that doesn’t taste like grass or have the stank of over worked olive oil.