Sometimes having a hissy fit is just what you need,every now and then it is for me. The fact that you lovely lot were there for me with practical encouragement and words of wisdom helped greatly .... THANK YOU, and today I am just getting on with things
Big Basil the basil plant from the kitchen windowsill was finally past his best, he's been cut right down to soil level on numerous occasions and sprouted right on back, but now he was ready to be used for the final time and give me back some much needed daylight through the window.
All his leaves were pulled off, his stems were thrown to the chickens and the spent compost from the pot was tipped into the compost bin behind Chicken World, ready to be transformed by the magic of warmth and worms back into usable compost once more.
I whizzed up the leaves with an equal amount in weight of nuts, in my case Cashew nuts, I didn't have any Pine nuts which are used in traditional Basil Pesto, I was also lacking o in the Garlic department, but a good squeeze from my tube of garlic paste did the trick. I trickled in Olive Oil until it was the right consistency and added some Sea Salt and freshly ground Back Pepper, then I tasted it and wondered why it didn't taste right at all ......
..... DUH!!
I had forgotten to add an equal weight of Parmesan Style Cheese.
So I did.
Et Voila!!
Cubes of Basil Pesto to pop into the freezer. Once these were fully frozen they were tipped from the ice cube trays into a lidded plastic box. Now they are ready for action, I use them to make a simple pasta sauce literally just stirred into hot cooked pasta and then sprinkled with more Parmesan. Dotted on pizzas or into quiches and pies they add a wonderful fresh taste, and I add them to anything I want to give a garlicky, herby hit to.
The thing to remember when making it is to simply have pretty equal measures of Basil (or other green leaves), Nuts and Parmesan (or similar) cheese, then add oil to get to your desired consistency and salt and pepper to taste.
Sue xx
