Pestos

Traditionally, we think of pesto as a paste made from fresh basil, olive oil, pine nuts, salt, garlic, and parmesan cheese. But I have come to think of pestos more broadly. I find this technique of turning a fresh herb into a sauce or a paste especially useful when I have an abundance of herbs in the summer. Simply take your herb (basil, flat leaf parselely, and cilantro work best) and throw it in a nutribullet (small amount) or large food processor (large amount) with enough olive oil to process into a smooth paste. Add some salt as a preservative, then fill an ice cube tray or (as I prefer) square silicon candy mold* with the pesto, cover with a piece of plastic wrap and freeze for a few days until hard. Then, pop them out and store in a ziploc bag in the freezer until needed in the winter for various dishes. Using only oil and salt means the flavor cubes are adaptable to almost any recipe. Below is my favorite traditional basil pesto recipe, followed by a few more with suggestions for use.

Classic Basil Pesto

Ingredients 8C packed basil leaves 8T pine nuts 8 cloves garlic 2C olive oil 2C grated parmesan cheese 1t salt Directions 1. Process everything in a food processor. Divide into smaller or larger containers, or cubes, depending on what sizes you think you'll need in the future. 2. If there is any space between the pesto and the lid, press a small amount of plastic wrap onto the surface of the pesto, smoothing out until no gaps remain, no exposure of air is possible. 3. Freeze indefinitely, use some right away, etc. Notes * My favorite mold for this is the silicon Wilton sheet of 24 squares - I cut the mold into 4 smaller molds, each holding 6 squares. You can buy this at Target, Amazon, Michael's etc. There are also many other brands and sizes. No link was avilable that was short enough to fit into this field. Sorry. Credits: NYT Cooking by Florence Fabricant. I added the salt. You will need a subsription to NYT Cooking to view this recipe (which I highly recommend). Tags:

Arugula Pesto

Great for when you've got that bag of arugula in your fridge.... you only needed a little bit for your salad or sandwhich, and now it's about to go bad. Throw it in a Nutribullet or food processor with some really good olive oil and a bit of salt. Then use it to make chicken salad.... it's sublime. Or use it as a sandwich spread on any sandhich you would normally put arugula on.

Parsely Pesto

Parsely, good olive oil and salt is great to mix into bulgur wheat to make a creamier tabbouleh. Thin it with even more oil and drizzle it sparingly over the top of celery soup, celeriac soup, vichyssoise, fish dishes, potato dishes, etc. Add walnuts and basil to make a really interesting pasta sauce.