Frozen Pesto Turns into Dollops of Sunshine Come Winter
2 September 2007 by Jean Johnson
It’s time for the old ice cube tray trick. Make some pesto with your extra fresh basil and freeze it up in the trays. Once hardened you can pop the cubes out for storage in a plastic bag. Come winter a couple cubes thawed whenever you’ve a yen for a dollop of sunshine can lighten up an otherwise dreary day.
My all time favorite by far is pesto tossed into baked spaghetti squash that I’ve fluffed with a fork. I also plop a cube or two of it into soups to do all manner of magical things to the broth. It’s also a hit on more mainstream things like grilled cheese sandwiches, baked potatoes, and pasta.
The first time I tried this freezing business 15 years ago I thought I had to go full bore. So along with the sweet basil leaves, into the blender went all the usual ingredients: garlic, Parmesan, walnuts, salt and olive oil. These days, though, I’m not so particular, having figured out that the goodies can be added after the fact in the winter. If I have things on hand I will go ahead and make the real deal up, but often I don’t. So I just add enough olive oil to get things going in the blender and toss in the garlic as well so I won’t have to chop it later on.
I thought I had it pared down as far as I could go, but friends and fellow gardeners in Northern Arizona just messaged and said they put theirs up with nothing more than water. I’ve not tried it yet, but plan to.
I imagine it will work nicely, although without the oil I’m wondering if it will darken more than it does when the oil is added. The idea here is that as soon as the cut surfaces of the basil are exposed to air, they darken–and that oil sort of films them to dampen the process and protect the color. But I could see doing the pesto with water and just floating a little oil over the top to preserve the color.
Yet, dark evergreen like the glorious Ponderosa pines of Northern Arizona or a lighter shade, there is nothing like your very own pesto from the freezer in the dead of winter. This heavenly goop brings a heady dose of chlorophyll and along with memories of the sun on your shoulders. More, putting pesto is a flash. So head on out to your herb plot and do a little harvesting or watch for bargain prices on fresh basil at farmer’s markets and whole foods stores. Come those long January nights, you and those around your table will be glad you did.
If you have a copy of Cooking Beyond Measure, there’s a pesto recipe note for Clifford’s Mary Pesto on page 63. My late brother, Clifford, used to have such a whimsical way about him, including using words like marvy.
One Response to “Frozen Pesto Turns into Dollops of Sunshine Come Winter”
Dear Jean: Just received an email from Jenny Branom Patberg telling us about your web site and the great Pesto recipe. Jenny sent this as
she remembered that we had a huge plant of basil on our deck…haven’t told her yet that our basil is a thing of the past! We’ve really had some freezes this winter here in Tucson, so will have to start a new plant. Will pass the recipe on to a dear friend though, who grows basil in a huge pot in her kitchen, she’ll love it.
By Pat Branom on Jan 12, 2008