Got Pesto *PIC*

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Just wanted to share a picture of our bounty of basil today. We have 24 plants and we pinch them back about every 4 days and get this much every time. We make the pesto without cheese (don't like texture when defrosted) and put into small zip lock type bags and freeze so we can have as little or as much as we want. Great on scrambled eggs, in omelets or best on pizza with chicken.

 

[Luvin Life]

That is wonderful, just send some this way.

 

[sred98]

Oooooh! I LOVE fresh basil! We lost all our plants to the heat this year. I have a great pesto lasagne that I make, too. Basically the same, but substitute pesto for tomato sauce. The kids love it!

Since you don't add the cheese before freezing, do you add it after you defrost, or just leave it out completely?

I also do a parsley pesto that is light and refreshing. Same recipe as the basil, but flat leaf parsley.

Thanks for sharing! Beautiful basil!

Shelly

 

[Chickenmaven]

I love pesto with cheese & pine nuts. Mmmm.....
I am soooo jealous of your basil. I am working HARD to get minimal herbs. Spring came late to Michigan. I have harvested lettuce & that's all.

 

[mschickychick]

If you haven't, try pesto and tomato pizza. Spread your pesto instead of tomato paste on your dough. Then layer with thinly sliced tomato and mozarella. Cook til done. It is so yummy.

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

YUM! all these suggestions so great. I add the cheese when I have defrosted and am heating. We are in Northern Calif and its 107 degrees here today (we have dry heat but still bloody hot). We cover our beds as shown which helps with reducing the high heat of the day.

P.S. Just went outside it's 7:47pm and even the weeds are wilting!

 

[JennsPeeps]

I just had pesto that I made last summer. I froze it in ice cube trays then put it into baggies in the freezer.

How did I use my pesto tonight?

ingredients:
1 lb white fish
~16-20 kalamata olives
3 handfuls of grape/cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 pesto cubes
olive oil
white wine
salt & pepper

Preheat grill to med heat.

Place fish on 4 separate, large pieces of aluminium foil. Top each piece with 4-5 olives, a quarter of the tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 pesto cube (no need to defrost). Fold up the foil to make a bowl. Top each piece of fish with a small splash of oil and about .25 c of wine. Salt & pepper to taste.

Seal the foil packets and then put on the grill for 10-15 minutes. Serve with bread.

YUM!!

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

WOW! I want to try this right away. Sounds really good and I like the idea of being able to do on grill.

Here is another version that I got off the bag of Tilapia that we get at Costco. It's great for the two of us since I can easily defrost the individually wrapped packages in cold water when I get home. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to defrost.

Happy cooking and if others have recipes for grilling please post - always looking for YUMMY recipes to do on the grill. I consider myself really lucky since our grill has an oven - so can do stuff outside instead of heating up the house.

Captain’s Favorite Recipe
Tilapia

4 Tilapia Loins
1 large or 2 medium Vidalia onions sliced ¼” thick (if unavailable, use yellow onions)
2 Medium tomatoes, sliced ¼” thick
4 Tbsp Fresh chopped basil
8 Cloves chopped garlic
4 Tbsp olive oil
12 Calamata olives, chopped

•Defrost tilapia loins, Preheat oven to 375°F
•Peel & slice onions ¼” thick. Saute in olive oil in saucepan over medium heat, 2-3 minutes each side or until onions are translucent
•Place loins over onion slices. Sprinkle olives, garlic and basil over fish. Place tomato slices on top. Salt & Pepper to taste.
•Place pan with fish in center of oven, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes, or until fish is opaque

Serving suggestion: rice pilaf and spinach salad

 

[The Chicken Lady]

How do you make the pesto? Recipe, please.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Here ya go:

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted in skillet
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Special equipment needed: A food processor

Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

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I recently saw a variation where the person used bacon instead of cheese.