Contributed by Kathy Hester
Where I live spring is in full force and I am planting my summer garden. I love culinary herbs and basil is no exception. Basil is fortunately a very easy herb to grow once the weather gets warm enough. Just in time for salad dressings, pasta salads and more.
Another reason to grow it yourself is that you can have access to varieties that aren’t available in the store. I grow lemon, lime, purple ruffles, Thai, cinnamon, and lettuce leaf basil. They each add their own special touch to your dishes and still retain that basil taste you are used to. They just bring extras along with it.
Traditional pesto is a simple combination of fresh basil, Parmesan, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil. It used to be made into a paste in a motar and pestle, but it takes no time at all in a modern food processor.
Be adventurous and try different herbs and nuts. You can also change the cheese or leave it out completely. I love to grow arugula or rocket because it’s easy and can be harvested very quickly. One of my favorite early pestos is arugula with pistachios and olive oil. Arugula has a strong taste so make sure to taste your pesto to see if you need to add anything else.
Try oregeno, cilantro, sage, even garlic scapes. Using a blend of different herbs is a great plan, especially with some of the more potent herbs. I love playing on colors by using purple basil. It’s so colorful to serve it on pasta, you just need to set it off with the right plate. I love it contrasted with the Noritake blue radius plate with all its multicolor circles.
Using spinach is a great way to have pesto in the winter, just use it in place of basil. Or you can plan ahead and make extra batches in the summer and freeze in an ice cube tray. Once they are frozen solid, pop them out into ziplock bags and put them back in the freezer. Then every season is the best to serve pesto in.
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