leah@gatech.edu (L.A.Z. Smith) (02/05/91)
This recipe is one I have used successfully for years. I make it in the summer when basil is plentiful (and cheap at farmers' markets, if you don't grow your own) and freeze it. It keeps indefinitely. PESTO SAUCE 6 cloves garlic 2 cups basil leaves, firmly packed 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese In a food processor with steel blade installed (or a blender), while machine is running, drop in garlic and run until minced. Stop machine, scrape down sides and add basil leaves and salt. Run machine in on-off spurts until the leaves are more-or-less chopped. Scrape down sides. Then, with the machine running, slowly pour in oil until you have a smooth paste. Scrape down sides and add the cheese. Turn machine on and off a few times, just until combined. Makes about 1-3/4 cups. To freeze: line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and drop pesto in tablespoonfuls onto it. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for several hours until the pesto is frozen, then peel the pesto blobs off the waxed paper and put them in a plastic bag for longer freezer storage. Frozen blobs can go directly into soups, stews or sauces. Let thaw and dilute with a little olive oil if you want pesto sauce for pasta. For shorter-term storage, scrape the pesto into a jar and cover with about 1/2-inch of olive oil, cover and refrigerate. It should keep a couple of months this way. To use it, scrape away the congealed olive oil, and spoon out as much pesto as you need. Then smooth the oil over it again and add a little fresh oil on top. The pesto may darken a little, but it will still be OK. (Discard it if you see any mold growing, obviously -- that's what the olive oil seal is supposed to prevent.) Recipe adapted from "When the Good Cook Gardens," Ortho Books, 1974. An excellent salad dressing is two to three parts mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip) to one part pesto. Makes a great pasta salad. Pesto mixed with oil and vinegar makes a good marinade for shrimp. (That is, for shrimp which are cooked, marinated and then served cold. For shrimp to be served hot, I would cook them and then toss with pesto.) L.A.Z. Smith ...ast!smith!leah leah%smith@ast.dsd.northrop.com