This weekend my helpers and I picked a big bag full of leaves, ready to process. Then the basement freezer died, I got distracted, and our basil waited in the fridge. I pulled it out Monday afternoon, thankful that it looked no worse for the wear.
It was time to assemble some pesto!
I wanted to run the batches through the food processor without delays, so I set up an assembly line. Each pile of basil needed 8 cloves of garlic, 1 cup of walnuts, and 1/2 cup olive oil.
I had my helpers peel and crush five separate piles of garlic.After it's cut, basil turns brown (or at least khaki) right away (one reason I try to make all my batches quickly), so I preserve its color with "Ever Fresh", a combination of sugar and ascorbic acid. I didn't have enough this time, so we supplemented by crushing vitamin C (ascorbic acid!) tablets. Easy and cheap--the way to go . . .
Can you see in the close up how ugly the basil gets if it isn't packed up airtight right away?
So here's my happy news: ten tiny bags of pesto, frozen flat and tucked away in the freezer. This will last us till next year's harvest.Bon appetit!
YUMMY!
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