Basil Pesto and So Much More!

Ok ok I know you have seen this picture before,say ummm a few days ago ?
Right.
Oh but see there are puzzles pieces in this very photo that fit perfectly into the pesto puzzle.

Ok we're even closer,there are three DIFFERENT pesto ingredients in this picture.
Alright two more hints,here goes it.

 

   Alrighty here we are,the three pieces. Carrot tops,kale and basil can ALL be made into their own batch, a fine batch of pesto. All three ingredients all shine in their respective batches of pesto AND YOU CAN MAKE THEM out of your CSA box from this week.









   The basil stems and leaves from the last two CSA boxes were just ready and willing to be made into pesto. My 3-yr old LOVES pesto and well stir up some hot,cooked pasta with any delicious pesto then Ta-Da ! there's dinner. I will admit the child loves to push the buttons on the food processor,so I had no problem getting her to help me make the pesto. We put all of the ingredients ( except the extra virgin olive oil) and let it rip. She helped me stream in through the feeder tube,the extra virgin olive oil until we got a consistency I was happy with. And I'll be dog-goned if the minute I got the lid off that food processor that kid went for the pesto spatula in hand. OUT OF CONTROL I tell you.

 Now please don't think she's a complete angel when it comes to food,she's not fond of pot roast and it took her a while to warm up to pizza. 

I know tough life.

We made some delicious basil pesto together. It was a pretty traditional basil pesto recipe,not exact but really cooking never is. (If you need exact here is a fine tutorial on making pesto from the wonderful folks at the kitchn.com . Pesto Making Tutorial)
Baking yes,cooking uh...mostly.

Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups basil leaves,packed
2-3 garlic cloves,whole
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes,if you like spicy
1/2 cup olive oil
Directions-
1. Put all of the ingredients EXCEPT olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to chop fine and combine as best you can.
2. With the machine running,stream the olive oil into the bowl of the food processor through the feeder tube until you have reached the desired consistency
3. and oh the picture of the plastic container directly above,well YOU CAN FREEZE PESTO!
( Here's a helpful link on freezing pesto: How To Freeze Pesto I know ,oh happy day. Now there are varying opinions on whether to add in the parmesan cheese when you initially mix the pesto together OR when you thaw it and serve. I most likely  won't remember at that point in time,so I add it in. Either way is fine,whatever works for you. Enjoy!

OH OH WAIT WAIT, before you go here are some other delicious pesto recipe using puzzle pieces ingredients other than basil;

Kale Pesto from food52

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto from A Spicy Perspective

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto from Bake Your Day

Beet Green Pesto from Nutmeg Nanny

Carrot Top Pesto from Hand-Picked Nation