Walnut Pesto

Walnut Pesto

Served up with Angel Hair, Early Girl Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Parmesan

Summer and light, flavorful food just go together. This is not the time for heavy gravies and cream sauces, its a time for salsas and vinaigrettes and...pesto! I grow my own basil in the summer and pesto is the perfect way to use it up. It's especially good for the older, more bitter leaves that aren't quite good enough to serve fresh, for my fellow basil growers out there.

Bounty!

By saying that pesto is light and flavorful, I am not saying that pesto is “lite” or low cal. The other main ingredients are nuts, cheese, and oil. However, used sparingly with some pasta and veggies it can make a great, light feeling summer meal, the kind that won't leave you clutching your tummy and groaning in the afternoon heat.

In this recipe, I separate all the leaves from my basil and only use those. If you are using store-bought basil, or happen to be a better basil gardener than I am, your stems will not be tough and bitter, so you can use them for the pesto.

I substitute walnuts for the more traditional pine nuts in this recipe. They have a rich flavor and are not as expensive as pine nuts. I've also successfully used almonds and pistaccios, and I've seen a pesto that uses pepitas (pumpkin seeds), for those eaters who are trying to avoid nuts. I've swapped out Parmesan cheese for Asiago in the past as well. Basically, any basil, nut, oil, garlic, hard cheese combo will yield a pesto, so get experimental. I will only caution against the use of peanuts, since they have such a strong flavor.

Walnut Pesto

Yields 1 ¼ cups, about 5 servings

6 cloves Garlic, unpeeled

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Salt

½ cup Walnuts or chopped Walnuts, shelled

1 cup finely grated Parmesan

1/3 cup Olive Oil

2 cups fresh Basil leaves

1/3 cup Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinagar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place unpeeled Garlic, 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, and a small pinch of salt in a small, oven safe pan and roast for 10 minutes.

While Garlic roasts, heat a small, non-stick skillet over high heat and add Walnuts. Do not add oil. Stir and toss continuously for about 2 minutes. Sample a walnut to see if it tastes toasted. If you are satisfied, remove from heat. If not try another after about 30 seconds. These babies go from delicious to burnt pretty quickly, so be vigilant.

When 10 minutes has elapsed, remove garlic from oven. Allow to cool before peeling. Discard paper-y skins, but try to conserve the good galic-y oil left in the pan for the pesto.

Add roasted Garlic, garlic oil, toasted Walnuts, Parmesan, and 1/3 cup Olive Oil to blender. Blend until smooth.

Add basil and remaining Olive Oil (1/3 cup) and Red Wine Vinegar to blender. Blend until smooth.

Now the rest is up to you. Salt and pepper to taste, add more vinegar if the flavor lacks a little acid or “brightness.” Also you can add move oil if you like your pesto thinner.

To Store: I usually use mine up pretty quick, so I just put it in a jar or tupper-ware and refrigerate. This is good for a week or so.

If you want to freeze your pesto, you can do it one of two ways. (1) Put it in a large freezer safe ziplock bag, and lay the bag flat in the freezer. This way it won't take but a couple minute in warm water to defrost. (2) Pour the pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze. When the pesto is frozen, pop it out and put the cubes into a ziplock bag, and return it to the freezer. Each cube should be about half a serving. You'll have a convenient way to use just a bit at a time, and you won't have to defrost a whole bag of pesto to get your fix.