All basil, all the time..

basil pesto

I am presenting myself as a bit of a basil freak lately. But when you've got a bundle of basil with leaves as big as your hand, there's no ignoring it. It's actually kind of intimidating, sitting on my window sill, all big and green and..basily. Look at the picture below of my hand, dwarfed by a single leaf. Exciting and scary all at the same time. This basil wants to be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I won't be the one to say no. Well, I might have to draw the line at breakfast. It wouldn't taste very good in my banana smoothie... or..would it?

So, with this oversized mutant basil haunting me again last night, after it had already featured prominently in my lunch, I decided to take a shot at making my own pesto. I had some fresh tortellini in the fridge that needed some sophisticated treatment.

This time I forced myself not to run to my computer for guidance. I know the basic ingredients that go into a pesto, so I figured I should be able to wing it. With basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan in hand, I went to work. The words "steady stream" kept distracting me as I prepared my ingredients. After many years of reading recipes like they are some kind of Harlequin Romance, I remembered that this was the preferred method for adding in the olive oil. But I am in a subletted and pre-furnished apartment, and there is no food processor here, only a blender and something with blades and the words Moulinex written on the side. I'm not even sure what a Moulinex is really for. (It's odd size has thrown me off. It's bigger than a coffee grinder, but not by much.) But I do know that there is no hole in it through which to pour olive oil in a steady stream while the appliance is running. Well, I had but two choices: give up or press on. Not one to give up on a challenge, especially if fresh herbs are involved, I threw it all into the Moulinex and gave it a whirl. It turned out beautifully and it was much easier than I had been led to believe.

I kept the amount of olive oil fairly low, as you can see by the picture. You can add more oil depending on it's use. I would use it in this way to spread it on bread or to add it to cream to make a Pesto cream sauce for pasta. Or there's pesto mayonnaise, pesto creme fraiche, pesto butter! there are endless possibilities.. I added a little bit more oil to the portion of it that I used for my tortellini, in order to coat the pasta better. The more oil you add the more servings you would get out of it.

You may wonder why I made such a small amount. Well, I'm only feeding myself again this week, and I don't like to have large amounts of leftover foods. And, actually, pesto is so concentrated in flavour that you don't need much. Although, I'm sure you could double the recipe if you wanted to.

Using pesto on tortellini is a bit tricky, because of all the nooks and crannies that lumps of your pesto can sink into. But with some careful tossing and pesto redistribution skills, it can be done.


Basil Pesto
makes about 3 heaping tablespoons

1/2 cup basil leaves (not packed but poke it with your finger and it will sink quite a bit in the measuring cup.)
1 clove of garlic, minced (I used a small one so as not to overpower the pesto with garlic flavour, adjust to taste)
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1.5 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons of olive oil
a wee pinch of salt


Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium high heat until lightly browned. It should take only a few minutes. Toasting them is optional but it does add a depth of flavour. Throw all the ingredients in a processor and blend it up. You may have to scrape down the sides a few times.
Use immediately if possible! If not, refrigerate it for up to a week, with a little extra oil poured to cover it. This is supposed to maintain the colour.



supersize basil