<p>I will definitely try freezing it this winter!!
Thanks, Garland.</p>
<p>The French version of pesto - pistou - doesn’t have nuts (at least in my recipe, I’ve seen some on line that do and others with tomatoes!) . I used to use walnuts before pine nuts were ubiquitous. There’s a real possibility that your daughter’s friend is allergic to the Chinese pine nuts, and would be fine with real Italian ones. But I wouldn’t risk it!</p>
<p>I freeze pesto in icecube trays and then take them out and put them in freezer bags so I have easy to use quantities.</p>
<p>dragonmom,
I started to buy that big bag of pine nuts at Costco and noticed they were a product of China and passed. 
They have them in Trader Joe’s and not a product of China.</p>
<p>The pesto turned out great. They used walnuts and put it on pasta. I have never been a huge pesto fan but I thought their pesto was good. I have always made it with pine nuts or just bought the store ready made pesto. I will make it again with the walnuts. It tasted lighter. One question- How do you keep the pesto the rich green grass color once you put it on the pasta?</p>
<p>^ That’s the blanching, just briefly, maybe with a bit of salt. Maybe 10 seconds, then into an ice bath maybe 20 seconds and dry it. I confess I chop it fine with a knife, not use the blender or mortar/pestle (makes me feel like the tv chefs,) then add it to so much oil that I don’t usually have a browining issue since it’s submerged. Later, when we want to use it, we lift it out with a fork, to somewhat strain it. (I suppose you could use a fine strainer.) We’re usually left with wonderful basil scented and flavored oil to use in another dish.</p>
<p>I’m glad yours turned out well. Sometime, try it with arugula instead of basil- it’s great use for the last, leftover leaves if you’ve bought a large container. More bitter, but great over pork.</p>
<p>garland and madbean – when you say you throw it in the blender, do you mean a tall blender like you’d make a milkshake with? I’d be very happy if that worked – I am down one mini-food processor (it just died) and don’t really want to buy another one, but I do have a working blender.</p>
<p>To keep the green color - blanching works very well, but it is a pain. Another way to avoid browning - add the juice of one lemon - it keeps the color fresh, and also complements the flavor.</p>
<p>^^Yes, I forgot I do squeeze little lemon into my pesto…I have never blanched…too lazy. So just basil, pine nuts or walnuts, Parmesan, squeeze of lemon, garlic and alittle salt and pepper. We are having terrific drought conditions but the darn basil is going crazy this year so lots of pesto in the future and for the freezer for winter. I just love going outside and brushing the leaves…love the scent of basil.</p>
<p>I made my first of the year last week. So far we’ve had it on pasta, pizza (with sliced heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese and artichoke hearts) and on a toasted bagel with cream cheese (my favorite). DS is coming home next week and we will go into production; I just ordered 20 big bunches of basil from my favorite farmer. I use James Beard’s recipe, which calls for some parsley.</p>
<p>Another thing I like to do is process it with cannellini beans and use it as a sandwich spread or dip.</p>
<p>Some hints for good pesto from my great-grandmother: smash the garlic and take out the “germ” - the greenish center portion that is starting to grow - to keep out the bitterness. Also, only use enough olive oil to get it to blend. Store bought is usually too oily.</p>
<p>I sometimes make a coarse pesto with chiffonade basil leaves, whole roasted pine nuts, and sliced garlic sauteed in olive oil. Add cheese to taste at the table.</p>
<p>We just did Italy as the theme for a local Girl Scout camp & this was the (delicious) recipe for pesto they used in the outdoor cooking center. It really was fantastic. [Pesto</a> Sauce - No Pine Nuts | Peanut Free Nut Free Recipes | Nut Free Peanut Free Products](<a href=“http://www.donteatnuts.com/delicious-pesto-recipe-without-pine-nuts.html]Pesto”>http://www.donteatnuts.com/delicious-pesto-recipe-without-pine-nuts.html)</p>
<p>We belonged to a CSA and would get lots of garlic scapes. I made garlic scape pesto using almonds and lots of olive oil. It was great as a dip with crackers in addition to a pasta topping.</p>
<p>This seems like the perfect place to pose a question that has long bothered me: how exactly does one measure a cup of basil leaves? Do you lay them gently in the measuring cup or squish them down–a bit, a lot? I can fit twice as much in a given space by compressing them. I’m a better baker than cook, so tend to get a little nutsy about precise measurements.</p>
<p>Grew up in California. My grandmother taught my mother to make the pesto that her mom and dad made in the foothills of California after they arrived from Italy in the 1850s. Grow basil. Pick. Cut up as fine as possible. Take a mortar and pestle and mix in parmesan cheese and olive oil and chopped basil and work it into a paste. When I grew up that was my summer job. No garlic, no pine nuts (maybe they didn’t have or didn’t use from their original homeland in Cinque Terre? No nuts.) We never called it pesto. It was basilico.</p>
<p>Cook egg noodles and then cook green beans ever so gently. Then mix them together with the basilico. Makes my mouth water to this day.</p>
<p>Classof2015–sorry for late answer, but yes to the blender. The regular milkshake, smoothie type blender. Of course, my chef son insisted we get an ultra-cool one, but they all work fine for pesto. The trick is not to make too much in one batch. The recipe on previous page fits nicely into a regular size blender bowl. If using that recipe, add each ingredient, one at a time, and blend until pureed.</p>
<p>Overseas - the pesto in Liguria, where Cinque Terre is located, is the best in the world. The traditional dish calls for trofie pasta with green beans and wedges of small new potatoes. You are right, it is never garlicky, and the flavor is just pure, delicate basil. In Liguria, they are careful to only use new, “baby” basil leaves, not the larger, stronger flavored, mature leaves. </p>
<p>Crushing the basil rather than chopping seems to bring out an added dimension in the flavor. Purists would never use any mechanical means. The best shortcut is to use a food processor and pulse the leaves, scraping frequently without turning it into a liquified puree.</p>
<p>This is very interesting about the pine nuts. I don’t actually eat them often so I havent experienced pine mouth. I did buy a Korean stone pine, as I am trying to grow more food. It is very attractive but perhaps I will leave the nuts for the critters.</p>
<p>From an article I found about “pine mouth”</p>
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<p>Doesn’t look like it causes any permanent taste loss.</p>
<p>Classof2015–agree with Madbean–regular blender. </p>
<p>MommaJ–I never measure. I just fill the blender about half to whole way (depending on how much leaves I picked), pushing in loosely (not packed). then add other ingredients to roughly match proportions i’m looking for.</p>
<p>nj2011mom–I belonged to a CSA in North Jersey for many years which gave us garlic scapes–I love them–usually sauted them briefly. Never thought of pesto. I wonder if it’s the same CSA you belong to? guy running it was known as “Farmer John.”</p>