I have terrible insomnia. Been an issue since I was a child but has been amplified by my son's wonky sleep schedule...so thanks to my craptastic Blackberry I spend my sleepless nights surfing the web for blogs and sites that interest me. I have become a faithful reader of Dash and Bella. Phyllis Grant is a genius writer, photographer and home chef...with the most adorable co-chefs: her almost 3 year old son and her 7 year old daughter. All her blogs feature fresh local organic products, kid friendly recipes that allow children to learn the art of cooking and a warm humor that comes through in her writing. She inspires me to encourage Devin to help in the kitchen and to cook with simple fresh ingredients. She almost always has some sort of fantastic sounding pesto to add to roasted veggies, spread on something, or made into a killer salad dressing. She talks about having some in the freezer and its like someone just told me that water makes ice cubes. I never make certain things because many times I just plain forget that a freezer is attached to my fridge. So while I did not have some of the fancier ingredients that are featured on Dash and Bella I made due with what I had and found a recipe that turned out pretty dang good!
The only addition I made to the original recipe was to add meyer lemon juice.
Toasting the walnuts as suggested by some of the reviewers of the recipe.
Thai basil...smelled sooooooooooooo good. I am trying to figure out if it smells differently than italian basil.
Grated garlic right into the ninja!
Add the cheese and any more salt or lemon juice after first blending the other ingredients together.
Four portions to go into the freezer for later use and one to go in the fridge!
Up close and pesto.
Ingredients (I doubled the recipe so I could freeze a bunch and I did not use butter.)
2 cups packed basil leaves (approx. 2 oz)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons softened butter (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
Directions
1. Place basil, olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt (if using) in food processor.
2. Blend until thoroughly combined.
3. Add Parmesan and butter (if using) and blend 5-10 seconds more.
4. Taste and adjust as needed.
My first application of the pesto was to make a salad dressing which consisted of a spoonful of pesto, lemon juice, curry mustard and a bit of salt and pepper. awesome.
My son letting me know he was so hungry he was ready to go cannibal...thank you lil man for letting me make this! <3
3 bites:
You know, I was thinking about italian vs thai basil when we last got Pho. I think it is a little different- or at least, the stuff at the restaurant seemed a bit different to me than the italian basil we have in my store! I suppose just how they've been cultivated in very different regions might result in slight variations - it'd be interesting to see if anyone knows for sure, though.
Yeah, there are LOTS of different basils. Some have subtle differences, some are dramatically different.
I'm making this now with sweet basil. SO GOOD. I wound up using a regular lemon instead of a meyer lemon, though.
Oh, also, tip: If you recipe calls for Thai basil and you can only find sweet basil or another mild basil, substitute with mint instead (or a combination of mint+the non-thai basil).
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