Our Life On the Pond: Genovese Basil Pesto

My nephew Seth and I attended the early buyers Trade Secret show this past May in Sharon CT. It was wonderful to see all the unusual and rare plant stock as well as see the wonderful garden antiques. This show is attended by many folks looking for something different...gardeners wanting to add something unusual to their landscape and this is the place to find it. What makes it even more fun is that celebrities also attend...Bunny Williams world renowned interior decorator who actually was the founder of the show, Kevin Sharkey head of design for MSLO, and of course Martha Stewart herself! Seth actually had his picture taken with Martha once she did some shopping on her own...what is amazing she actually drove herself to the show in a huge black SUV...

Well enough of the elbow rubbing....the prize for me was I found Genovese basil....this is the basil pesto MUST be made from. No substitutes will do. It is flavorful, tender and a beautiful green. By rights the youngest leaves should be used but my basil grew a little faster than I had a chance to pick...but the pesto is divine. I hope to get a few more batches before fall...basil is a tender annual here in the northeast so once the cold sets in basil can not handle the frost.

I picked armloads of basil this morning...you can also see a few tomatoes and an eggplant peeking out of the basket as well.

Ingredients gathered to make the pesto....only thing missing in this photo is the garlic. All else accounted for - olive oil, pine nuts, walnuts, salt, parmigiano reggiano and of course basil.

The cheese is wonderful...I prefer parmesano instead of pecorino romano which is really called for...I am not found of many sheep's milk cheeses so I stick with Parmigiano a cow's milk cheese and truthfully how can anyone pass up this delightful top shelf cheese!

All cubed and ready to whirl around the food processor.

Processed to perfection. The best way to buy cheese is in a wedge and grate or process as needed. Henry at Chef A Roni a wonderful food expert and teacher explained that the least surfaces exposed to the air the moister the cheese remains...so if you grate it long before using you have exposed a multitude of surfaced to the air and set up a perfect environment for dried out cheese...really is common sense when you think about it...

Save the rinds and freeze to use in a sauce or soup at a later date...

Wonderful garlic...

Basil and salt to bowl after the nuts and garlic have been processed.

Slowly drizzle the extra virgin olive oil in to make the pesto paste...how delightful is this green oil!

Last but not least add the cheese for one last whirl...

Pesto in containers for gifts...I put pesto in covered containers that can be given away as a hostess gift when the occasion rises...for me I like my pesto in zip lock bags in the freezer.