Don’t be afraid to PRUNE your BASIL and make PESTO!!!

Our basil is out of control.  We planted three varieties: Lemon, African, and Sweet basil.  We just pruned it way back 2 weeks ago for pesto, and it has more than doubled already!

Don’t be afraid to prune your basil, I am sure that is why ours is growing so amazingly big and bushy.  Check out this YouTube on how to do it.  Here are our plants after I pruned them.  They look sad now, but trust me, they will grow back even bigger!   (That is thyme growing in the front of the pot.)

Check out how much basil I harvested, about 4 cups!  Now I am ready to make some pesto!

Pesto is super easy to make!!!  There are tons of recipes on the internet.  Here is a simple one from the Food Network guys.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of fresh basil (packed)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
• 2/3 cup fruity xtra virgin olive oil (divided in half)
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

I froze mine using ice trays so I can defrost a pre-measured amount when I need it – check out eHow for tips.

But first I spread a little on a slice of fresh-baked Rosemary-Olive Bread (thanks to Elana’s Pantry and the Almond-Flour cookbook) and drizzled it with a little olive oil that we get from a Farmer’s Market here in Houston!  YUM!!!

The Almond-Flour cookbook is a must have for any gluten-free, paleo, simply love yummy stuff without all the sugar and processed flour and crap, kitchen!  It is only $10.00 bucks!  And if you click this link (or the ones above) to buy from our Amazon Store, you help us keep the lights on here and we can keep posting great stuff for ya for free!  🙂