Last night was fun with our new food processor.
On the way home I stopped at the brand new and freakin’ huge Whole Foods in Cupertino and picked up a few things. Getting home a little late, I put together some garlic bread: Crushed garlic and fresh-ground parmesan cheese mixed into butter, spread on top of sliced french bread, and baked for 12 minutes.
While it was baking I started making fresh homemade pesto. A basil plant I potted several months ago has been going nuts, so I had plenty of basil for the mix, along with garlic cloves, pine nuts, a little parsley, and olive oil. After processing it to a creamy smoothness I mixed in salt and parmesan (ended up needing more salt than I’d first expected, and probably could have used even more). The bread was out by this time, so I boiled water and prepared some shell pasta.
It all came together really well, and man was the pesto fresh and strong! Definitely something to make again, and I wonder if the pesto might taste even better after sitting overnight to mellow. Hard to say, though we do have a little left over. But still: Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm!
We did manage to kill every vampire in a one-mile radius, though. Garlic city, I’m telling you.
Mmmm… Pesto… We grew three pots of basil this year. Until Teri’s mal-de-new-mom got the better of her olfactory senses, we had wonderful pesto weekly. Unfortunately, the oils grew too strong for her over-sensitive nose, so it’s been growing semi-wild, greatly outpacing the rosemary it shared pots with. I’ve just spent the last week drying it in our little dehydrator for later use. (A little bit past its prime, as it had already flowered, but still full of the aroma and oils.)