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Ingredients
- Pesto:
- 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 1 clove fresh garlic, peeled
- 6 leaves of fresh basil
- enough water to cover tomatoes
- 1 large clove garlic, peeled
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 Parmesan cheese
Preparation
Step 1
Fresh herbs are summertime magic in the kitchen! They make food taste fancy, but they're easy to use. Here are some tips and recipes to get you started...
Pinching your basil and other herbs will make your plants full, prevent blooms that can lead to bitter flavors, and provide you with great handfuls of fresh herbs. (See the first article in this series.) Pinching and snipping leads to sniffing and nibbling, and you realize you must put your herbs to use in the kitchen! Salads! Sauces! Grilled Chicken! Pesto! Fresh herbs make everything taste fabulous.
Salads are a great place to introduce your tongue to fresh herbs and discover your favorite combinations.
Add thyme to a citrus vinaigrette, or top a salad with orange sections and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.
Minced Greek oregano combines well with feta cheese and tomatoes.
Add a handful of minced fresh basil and some frozen peas to a batch of blue-box Mac & Cheese, and see what happens.
Once you start using fresh herbs, you will find ways to add them to every meal.
It’s hard to beat a platter of thick tomato slices, dotted with the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can find, and crowned with fresh basil.
For every cup of diced tomatoes, add 1 minced clove of garlic and 1 Tablespoon each of minced basil, good balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil.
basil, cookbooks tell you to stack the leaves and roll them tightly, then slice across the roll to make thin strips.
I gather the leaves into a big wad and hold them in place with one hand while chopping away with the other hand, being
The classic response to a big basil harvest is to make Pesto
Red pesto uses sun-dried tomatoes in place of the nuts.
Either type of pesto can be added to cooked pasta or rice.
Two “cubes” of pesto mixed with a stick of softened butter or half a cup of margarine makes a wonderful spread for crusty bread.
If you reduce the oil in the recipe, you can add pesto to pizza or bread dough (one cube per pizza crust).
Pinch your herbs for shape and fullness, but more importantly, pinch them to add amazing flavor to summer meals!
Removing most of the stems from the basil will make the pesto taste better.
With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil.
Blend in the cheese.
If it seems dry, add a little more olive oil.
Prepare the sun dried tomato mixture:
Combine in a nonreactive pan
Bring to a boil and allow to stand about 20 minutes or until softened. Drain off excess liquid
Now make the pesto:
1 large clove of garlic, peeled
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Put the basil and garlic into the bowl of the food processor with the tomato mixture, and process to a rough paste.
With the machine running, add the olive oil.
Add the grated cheese, and process until blended. Season to taste with salt pepper.
A batch of pesto will sauce at lest a pound of pasta and may be thinned with 1/2 cup of cooking water or hot water.