Its such a delightful pleasure and a joyful experience going into a herb garden and picking fresh leaves of basil and other herbs to make your pesto. The fragrance that surrounds you while picking the herbs is somehow calming and enjoyable at the same time.
The strong scent of basil that remains in your hands despite washing them, is sometimes unlike the store bought basil that has been dying on the shelves for days, and not freshly picked from the ground.
The great thing about herbs is that you need not have a garden to grow them, they can do well with a little care, indoors in an apartment as well. However there is something to be said from the feeling of picking abundantly flourishing herbs in the sunshine and from the soil..
Below is the sensory recipe I created to make fresh garden-picked basil pesto. I say sensory recipe as it’s not about exact measurements but rather using your senses to determine the perfect combination. Also note that no 2 tomatoes or herbs taste the same so in order to make a perfect dish, one needs to rely on taste.
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Green Thai chillies (optional)
Olive oil — as many glugs required to make it a smooth paste
A large bunch of basil
A bunch of garlic chives (optional)
A bunch of Italian parsley (optional)
Half a cup of almonds or more according to taste.. you will know when to stop adding when it tastes just right! (or the traditional pine kernels or whatever nuts are in the pantry)
- Chop the herbs roughly so that they liquidize easier in a smoothie blender.
- Chop the almonds roughly as well.
- Chop the garlic cloves and Thai chilies as well.
- Add to the smoothie blender and insert a few glugs of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture.
- Press on start/stop mode. This mode allows the ingredients to be mixed regularly without using a spoon.
- Once the mode stops, add extra olive oil as required and season with black pepper and salt. Add extra almonds if the mixture is not thick enough.
- Blend ingredients again until well blended.
- Adjust seasoning as required.
Remember that you are relying on your senses so you will know what tastes “right” to you!
Store the pesto in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge and use within a week. It can be used on gluten free pasta as above or even on avocado toast. The zinginess from the Thai chillies make up for the absence of any cheese in the pesto. PS. this is definitely a fusion recipe and not authentic to its Italian roots.
Originally published at https://www.jasmineandprotea.com on January 23, 2021.
