Pesto redux

[geargrrl]

Mmm, fall.
I made tons of pesto for the freezer today. I'm not sure of the finished quantity, but it involved 12+ cups of fresh basil leaves... and I still have more plants in the garden yet!

I had the brilliant idea of using muffin cups/tins to portion it out for the freezer.

And yes folks I am trainable. Only ITALIAN parmesean was used, whoo....

gg

[Damo]

You can't beat fresh pesto. I guess growing your own basil will do it though! Nice work.
Let us know how it freezes...

[geargrrl]

You can't beat fresh pesto. I guess growing your own basil will do it though! Nice work.
Let us know how it freezes...

Pesto freezes great, I've been doing it for years. Other ideas are to put it into ice cube trays, or if it's real stiff, you can just put portions of it onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Once all the portions are frozen, you just put them in a zip lock and pull them out as needed.

[SkaredShtles]

Have you tried bell pepper pesto yet? That stuff is KILLER good. :drool:

[geargrrl]

Haven't tried any additions. Roasted reds I might try, I hate green peppers. Have you ever tried adding oil packed sundried tomatoes, is that worthwhile?

[mcadam]

Hi gg, can you share your basic pesto recipe? And t.y....

[SkaredShtles]

Haven't tried any additions. Roasted reds I might try, I hate green peppers. Have you ever tried adding oil packed sundried tomatoes, is that worthwhile?
No - the bell pepper pesto has no basil in it. It's not an addition, it *is* the pesto. Pesto loosely means "pound" so you can make the sauce out of any number of things. I think we've had sundried tomato pesto before...

[geargrrl]

Hi gg, can you share your basic pesto recipe? And t.y....


There are two versions in the other pesto thread, last week or so.

[geargrrl]

No - the bell pepper pesto has no basil in it. It's not an addition, it *is* the pesto. Pesto loosely means "pound" so you can make the sauce out of any number of things. I think we've had sundried tomato pesto before...

seeing as I hate green peppers, that sounds downright nasty to me, I'd be burping it up for a week...

[Nobody]

seeing as I hate green peppers, that sounds downright nasty to me, I'd be burping it up for a week...

I'm not fond of the green bell, either. But, when ripe, it's a red bell - and I use those for all sorts of things.

And Bravo! on the cheese upgrade.

BTW - since you have a lot of basil, I have a couple of other ideas for it - all very simple, if you're interested.

[Damo]

mmm...like pounding in a mortar with some sugar and sprinkling over fresh strawberries.....

[geargrrl]

I'm not fond of the green bell, either. But, when ripe, it's a red bell - and I use those for all sorts of things.

And Bravo! on the cheese upgrade.

BTW - since you have a lot of basil, I have a couple of other ideas for it - all very simple, if you're interested.

yes that would be excellent. Anything that's good for keeping all winter?
I have at least as much as I processed yesterday still out in the garden.

gg

[Nobody]

Pizza Margherita was created in 1889 by pizza maker Raffaele Esposito as a tribute to the Queen of Italy, Margherita di Savoia, because its ingredients represent the colors of the Italian flag.

12 oz. firm, ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic crushed or fine diced.
12 fresh basil leaves
1/2 lb. Mozzarella, diced or thinly sliced
4 oz. olive oil

Oven set to 450-550F.

Pizza Crust [I am finding it easier to buy them pre-prepared as opposed to making the dough from scratch - it's your choice]

The procedure is the same as in Neapolitan Pizza.

Lightly brush the crust with the EVOO.

Spread the thinly sliced tomatoes evenly over the crust. Ditto that with the crushed garlic. Repeat with the basil leaves. You can 'chiffonade' cut it or leave it whole.

Simply spread the diced Mozzarella over the tomatoes.

Slip it into the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Voila.

Place two basil leaves over the pizza as you take it out of the oven.

[Nobody]

... And, as an interjection, there is a thing you can do with Basil that a lot of personal chefs such as myself are doing...

Take all your excess basil and a little water and puree the he11 out of it in a food processor. Before it turns to paste, while it's still a little leafy, fill a clean ice cube tray with the goop and freeze in a zip lock baggie [freezer type, natch.]

whenever you need 'fresh' basil for a sauce, crack out a 'cube and you're golden!

[geargrrl]

... And, as an interjection, there is a thing you can do with Basil that a lot of personal chefs such as myself are doing...

Take all your excess basil and a little water and puree the he11 out of it in a food processor. Before it turns to paste, while it's still a little leafy, fill a clean ice cube tray with the goop and freeze in a zip lock baggie [freezer type, natch.]

whenever you need 'fresh' basil for a sauce, crack out a 'cube and you're golden!

would that work for say, a Thai Red Curry that usually asks for fresh basil?

[Nobody]

would that work for say, a Thai Red Curry that usually asks for fresh basil?

Pretty much. Thing about fresh basil that you don't get in dried basil is the fluid with the extra basil flavor. Any sauce that is cooked [as opposed to 'uncooked sauce' like 'salsa' etc] would basically 'melt' the basil to the same consistency in a few minutes.

Try it.

[SkaredShtles]

seeing as I hate green peppers, that sounds downright nasty to me, I'd be burping it up for a week...
The bell pepper pesto is made with red, yellow, or orange peppers. Not those nasty green ones. :D

[Nobody]

The bell pepper pesto is made with red, yellow, or orange peppers. Not those nasty green ones. :D

What a few of us in the catering trade called the 'green death'...

[TreeSaw]

Damn...my basil isn't looking so good :( I am going to have to plant a whole lot more!

[Nobody]

http://www.ridemonkey.com/mountain-bike-photos/data/500/350Caprese3.jpg

Sweet young tomatoes, whole young fresh leaf basil, bocconcini cheese, a little EVOO and some balsamic vinegar...

[TreeSaw]

http://www.ridemonkey.com/mountain-bike-photos/data/500/350Caprese3.jpg

Sweet young tomatoes, whole young fresh leaf basil, bocconcini cheese, a little EVOO and some balsamic vinegar...

:happydance: That's what I had for lunch!

[SkaredShtles]

That's what I have for dinner! Along with carbonara. :drool:

Edit: Damn were they good tomatoes.

And the carbonara kicked ass!

[geargrrl]

so do you guys approve of the fresh Mozz they sell at costco?

[Nobody]

so do you guys approve of the fresh Mozz they sell at costco?

Well, how fresh is fresh?

Besides, in the salad i used Bocconcini, just to be a pain in the tush.

hahahaha.

Anyway, bocconcini is mozzarella - it's just produced in 'small balls' - hence the name.

Thing is, you can tell it's fresh because the balls are packed in a mild brine - salt water - so they don't look immediately appetizing, but they're usually quite good!

[SkaredShtles]

so do you guys approve of the fresh Mozz they sell at costco?
The fresh mozz they sell now isn't as good as the stuff they used to sell. It's still pretty decent, though.

[TreeSaw]

Well, how fresh is fresh?

Besides, in the salad i used Bocconcini, just to be a pain in the tush.

hahahaha.

Anyway, bocconcini is mozzarella - it's just produced in 'small balls' - hence the name.

Thing is, you can tell it's fresh because the balls are packed in a mild brine - salt water - so they don't look immediately appetizing, but they're usually quite good!
The first time I bought Bocconcini I thought it was bad when I opened it up...didn't look so tasty but then I tried it and it tasted great so that's my go-to when I make this dish for bowl consumption.