Basilicious

Each year I end up with copious amounts of the fragrant herb at the end of the season. While I enjoy bruschetta weekly during the summer, what's a girl to do with all that basil? When life hands you basil, make pesto!

I've found that Ball Freezer Jars work perfectly to preserve the basil pesto all winter. It's wonderful to be able to visit the freezer for a taste of the summery spread in a calzone or on a sandwich.




My favorite basil pesto recipe is from Michael Chiarello of NapaStyle fame. I have altered the recipe slightly as freezing the nuts and cheese does not work particularly well.




(Makes about 3/4 cup, enough for 1 pound pasta.)
2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Sea salt, preferably Gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl, and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the basil in a large sieve and plunge it into the boiling water. Immediately immerse all the basil and stir so that it blanches evenly. Blanch for about 15 seconds. Remove, shake off the excess water, then plunge the basil into the ice water bath and stir again so it cools as fast as possible. Drain well.
Squeeze the water out of the basil with your hands until very dry. Roughly chop the basil and put in a blender. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil and the vitamin C, if using. Blend for at least 30 seconds. In this way the green of the basil will thoroughly color the oil. Pulse to combine.

Michael's Notes: Don't try to make this pesto in a food processor. The processor just throws it around the bowl. A blender does a much better job.