{"id":4,"date":"2013-09-10T22:21:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T02:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/?p=4"},"modified":"2026-08-22T16:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T20:28:19","slug":"basil-pesto-and-pasta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/?p=4","title":{"rendered":"Basil, Pesto and Pasta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pesto in ice cube tray ready for freezer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you ever wonder what to do with all the basil you have grown in your garden or in a container?   I don’t know about you but I have the most prolific crop this year.  Of course, I love fresh basil on tomatoes with mozzarella cheese, I love it made into pesto and serve with pasta and I love to use it to season soups and sauces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BASIL IS PART OF THE MINT FAMILY <\/strong> it is an aromatic herb.  It can be eaten fresh or dried. There are so many RECIPES<\/strong> for using basil where to start.  My favorite is on fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  I pick the fresh leaves,  place several on top of each other, roll them up and then use my kitchen shears<\/strong> <\/a> to snip them into small pieces.  Your joyful kitchen<\/strong> should have kitchen shears.<\/strong><\/a>  I use mine for all kinds of things, especially cutting raw chicken.  They will cut right through bones making easy work of cutting up a whole chicken.  And, of course that will save you money not having to buy chicken already cut up. Also works great for cutting sausage that is in CASINGS<\/a>. But I regress, back to BASIL.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making your own BASIL PESTO<\/strong> is a great way to enjoy fresh basil into the winter months. I freeze it using ice-cube trays and when frozen pop them out and store them \u00a0in plastic containers or bags. \u00a0Then you just\u00a0add some cubes to make PESTO PASTA.<\/strong>\u00a0 There is\u00a0nothing better than remembering the lazy, wonderful days of summer when you bite into pesto pasta in the dead of winter rmade with your own or store-bought pesto. It reminds you of those long evenings before dark when you were leisurely dining enjoying the evening.<\/span> I also dry basil leaves in my \u00a0<\/a>DEHYDRATOR. \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0I do not have the patience to gather the stalks of basil, tie them with string and hang in the basement or some other dark out-of-the-way place. \u00a0It takes too long and when I have done this I seem to forget about them. \u00a0So the DEHYDRATOR<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>works for me . \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My family will \u00a0be enjoying pesto pasta salad for the weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0I hope you too will be making something yummy in\u00a0your Joyful \u00a0Kitchen<\/strong>, the heart of your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy Always, Cissy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basil growing on the deck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Freshly Picked Basil ready to make Pesto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2 cups packed Basil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kitchen Shears<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cutting rolled basil with kitchen shears<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pesto ready to go into ice cubes for freezing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Basil Pesto<\/h2>\n
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Quick and Easy Basil Pesto, full of summer flavor<\/span><\/div>\n
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\n Print Recipe<\/a>\n Pin Recipe<\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>6<\/span><\/div><\/div>
Course: <\/span>Salad<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span> Ingredients<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span> Method<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span> Notes<\/a><\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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<\/polyline><\/g><\/svg><\/span> <\/a><\/polyline><\/g><\/svg><\/span> <\/a><\/div>
  • 2<\/span> cups<\/span> fresh basil leaves, packed<\/span><\/li>
  • 1\/2<\/span> cup<\/span> Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese grated<\/span><\/li>
  • 1\/2<\/span> cup<\/span> extra virgin olive oil<\/span><\/li>
  • 1\/3 <\/span> cup<\/span> Pine nuts or walnuts<\/span><\/li>
  • 3<\/span> med<\/span> garlic cloves, minced<\/span><\/li>
  • salt and pepper to taste<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
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    Method
    <\/div> <\/h3>
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    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)<\/span>
      <\/div>Note: I like to pulse basil first then add nuts so they will not be too chopped up. When they are larger they add an interesting texture to the pesto.<\/span><\/div><\/li>
    2. Add the garlic and pulse a few more times<\/span><\/div><\/li>
    3. 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.<\/span><\/div><\/li>
    4. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended<\/span><\/div><\/li>
    5. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. <\/span>
      <\/div>Stir all together and enjoy now or place in mini ice trays for freezing. <\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ol><\/div><\/div>\n \n
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      Notes<\/h3>
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      Serving ideals:\u00a0 Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.<\/span>
      <\/div>\nI serve with pasta adding chopped red onion and frozen garden peas.\u00a0 Makes a great pasta salad.\u00a0 \u00a0 Enjoy.\u00a0 It will be “The Best You Ever Made”<\/strong><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Do you ever wonder what to do with all the basil you have grown in your garden or in a container?   I don’t know about you but I have the most prolific crop this year.  Of course, I love fresh basil on tomatoes with mozzarella cheese, I love it made into pesto and serve with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[20,18],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipes","category-tips-and-gadgets","tag-basil","tag-glycemic-friendly"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42obF-4","jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/IMG_04411-e1376935916735.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10332,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions\/10332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tidbitsofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}