Big Bowl of Basil Made Tasty Pesto

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Pesto for Noodles, Chicken, Potatoes & Veggies

Basil, Garlic, EVOO and Walnuts for Pesto
Basil, Garlic, EVOO and Walnuts for Pesto

This simple pesto recipe is easy. The part that takes the most time is picking and cleaning the basil leaves.

  • 2 c. fresh basil leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 c. pine nuts
  • 2/3 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 1/2 c. Parmesan Cheese, shredded or grated

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend it up for dinner tonight!

If you want to keep some pesto sauce in the refrigerator for about a week, don’t add the cheese in the first blending. Blend up the basil, garlic and nuts with 1/2 cup of EVOO. Transfer sauce to container and carefully pour remaining oil on top to cover the pesto. You want to keep air off the sauce as it will turn an unappetizing black color.

When you want to use the sauce stir in the cheese and you’re ready to eat!

Pesto can be kept under oil in the refrigerator for one week. To keep it longer, freeze it before adding the cheese.

For individual portions, freeze in ice cube trays and then transfer the pesto blocks to zip bags or freezer containers.

Make this recipe the way you like or alter to the ingredients you have on hand. We substituted walnuts for pine nuts.

Sorry, I didn’t get a photo of the meal before it was all gone. I guess I was excited to eat it. Yummy it was!

Tip: Pick the basil leaves before the plant flowers for the best taste.

Alternatively, pinch off the flower buds so the plant won’t flower before you’re ready to use the leaves in the kitchen or for making pesto sauce.

Got Garlic? September Is Time To Plant

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September is a great time to plant garlic.

Best Garlic Planting Time Is Autumn
Best Garlic Planting Time Is Autumn

If you haven’t planted garlic in your own garden yet, we encourage you to give it a try. There’s nothing like digging up delicious bulbs of garlic that grew from your own efforts.

Autumn is the best time to plant garlic. The idea is to get the garlic cloves in the soil before the ground freezes in Winter and to do that early enough to give roots time to develop.

When you do it right, the garlic bulbs planted in Fall should be bigger and better than if you wait until Spring to plant.

Check out Amazon for a starter kit of garlic to plant, especially this Gourmet Organic Garlic Bulb Assortment . Having several varieties to try growing will ensure your success!

How To Plant Garlic

1. Prepare the soil

Dig or turn over the soil to a minimum depth of 6-8 inches. You don’t have to get scientific about it, but make sure the soil is loosened up. We want to give the roots some space to grow so digging to 10 inches deep would even be better.

Add some organic material like compost or old straw. We like to use straw bales that are a year or two aged by the weather. The old straw breaks down into the nicest, darkest soil.

2. Plant the cloves

Break apart a bulb of garlic and separate the cloves. Be careful not to remove the outer wrappers or membranes of the individual cloves.

Take note of how the cloves fit together in the bulb because you want to plant the cloves in the same orientation. Garlic cloves are pointy on top and flat on the bottom.

Push a clove with the flat end down into the soil about 1 inch deep. You want to make sure the pointy end is sticking up and that the tip is no deeper than an inch.

Plant the cloves about 8 inches apart.

Cover the cloves with soil and tap down.

Water liberally. Give the garlic about an inch of water each week unless you’re lucky enough to have Mother Nature do it for you.

3. Protect the garlic

Watch the weather. What good gardener doesn’t? Be aware of dropping temperatures and protect your garlic once freezing temperatures arrive.

After the ground surface freezes cover the garlic bed with 3-4 inches of straw. This will insulate the garlic from temperature extremes in early Spring and help to keep down the weeds when the garlic starts to re-grow.

There you have it. By planting garlic in September you’re on your way to a wonderful gardening season next year!