Make Your Own Pesto Sauce

Aaah, pesto! Scrumptious with pasta, a mouthwatering accompaniment for salmon or halibut, or as a tangy vegetable topper, pesto sauce is indispensible in the kitchen.

Making your own pesto has so many advantages over buying the pre-packaged versions. For one thing, you'll be able to adjust the taste to suit yourself. If you want more garlic or a thicker sauce, add more cloves or cut down on the liquid. For another, if you're watching your weight or trying to cut down on saturated fat, it's much easier to control your fat intake. How many of those packaged pestos list the amount and type of fat per serving? Homemade pesto sauce is just plain better --- fresher, tastier and a whole lot better for you.

Making your own pesto sauce is easy, if you have a food processor. Essentially pesto is a combination of olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and basil, with water and bread added to control the consistency of the sauce. While you can buy fresh basil, it's expensive, especially out of season. As you'll need more than a cup of fresh basil leaves every time you make pesto, it's far cheaper and more convenient to grow your own.

Growing Your Own Basil

Folklore holds that you have to curse the ground as you sow basil for it to grow well, but you can forego the cussing and still grow basil successfully. Its main requirements are sun and heat. Start basil seed indoors six weeks before the last frost date and don't transplant or set out until the ground is thoroughly warm. Basil won't tolerate cold! Pinch off the growing tips to make the plants bushier and remove all flower spikes to prolong your harvest.

Growing your own basil gives you a wonderful opportunity to experiment with different flavors. Many people insist that Genovese basil is the type you must use for superior pesto; others favor Greek basils, such as Spicy Globe. You might also want to try lemon or cinnamon basil. All are cultivars of Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum).

Harvest basil by cutting off the growing tips every few weeks and taking the leaves, (leaving four sets of true leaves on the plant). Wash and pat the leaves dry. Use immediately, or store by freezing; basil doesn't keep well in the fridge. If you must refrigerate it, put the stems of fresh-picked basil in a glass of water, and cover with a plastic bag; it will keep for about a week.

For pesto-making purposes, once I've washed the leaves and patted them dry, I simply put them into a freezer bag, date it, and pop it into the freezer. Then I can enjoy the taste of summer all season long. If I make too much pesto, (a rare event), it too can be frozen and thawed for use later on.

Pesto Sauce

This recipe is my favorite because it's a lot less oily than some pesto recipes, and low in saturated fat. It makes enough for 4 servings of pasta, and any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. The result will be a very thick sauce; add more water, a little at a time, if you prefer a thinner consistency.

3 or 4 cloves garlic
1 & 1/2 cups packed fresh basil
2 slices white bread, with crusts removed
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup hot water, approximately
2 tbsp pine nuts (optional)

Peel the garlic. With the food processor on, drop the garlic through the tube and process until chopped.

Add basil, bread, oil, pine nuts (if using), and salt; process until well mixed, scraping down sides several times.

Add the hot water and process until blended. Check the consistency and add more hot water as needed. Stir in cheese.

Presto! You have pesto! You can also freeze pesto; put pesto in ice cube trays, and then transfer the cubes to an airtight container and freeze for up to six months. If you don't have enough basil for this recipe, you can mix basil and parsley, but this will give a different taste.

Pesto and pasta are synonymous, but it's also heavenly on fish, chicken and vegtables. Try adding a spoonful to soups or stews, using pesto as a vegetable dip, or spreading it on your homemade pizza instead of tomato sauce. Aaah, pesto!