Yummy Basil Spinach Pesto

[Carmella]

I don't think I've ever made as much pesto as I have this summer! I'm stocking up like crazy, freezing most of it for the winter.

I usually make a variation of the same recipe. It's the one we like best as it's not as heavy in terms of oil/nuts as most pestos. Yesterday, I made what turned out to be THE best version yet. Here goes...

Yummy Basil Spinach Pesto

2 cups fresh basil, packed
2 cups fresh spinach, packed
2 large garlic cloves
1/3 cup walnuts
Handful pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Blend basil and spinach until finely chopped. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

If you have a high speed blender, you can put in all the ingredients at once, starting with the basil and spinach.

Carmella's Note: I washed the spinach first and, unlike what I usually do, didn't spin it dry. As a result, the pesto turned out creamier and lighter. Delish!

[Coonlie]

I made a huge batch of pesto yesterday, too, with so much basil from our garden. I'm also trying something new - making zucchini spaghetti and noodles for pasta dishes and freezing it. I know zucchini can be frozen so I don't know why the "noodles" won't work. They may be a little soft, but then it might make it more like real pasta when I thaw it and make it. We'll see. I've been doing bagsful of it today. Yesterday I did about 24 pints of blended greens to put in the freezer for green smoothies in the winter. So much in the garden to harvest right now.

Sorry, if I hijacked your thread Carmella. I guess I got enthused about the pesto and then everthing else I've been harvesting!

[Carmella]

Hijacking? No worries. I sure would be excited too if had such a wonderful and plentiful harvest.

Thanks for the great ideas! I didn't even know zucchini could be frozen. Yay! If we can find some room in our already very full freezer, I might give that a try as organic zucchinis can be so expensive out of season.

Do let us know how your pasta experiment turns out!

[Coonlie]

I will Carmella. Zucchini is so plentiful and inexpensive right now and gets pretty pricey during the winter, so I'm stocking up. I also tried the zucchini hummus for the first time yesterday and we love it. It is so good. So, I'm also freezing blended zucchini to make hummus with this winter.

For lunch today I spread the hummus on a veggie wrap/tortilla, then topped it with sprouts and tomato slices. It was so delicious, I had to have a second one! My last two batches of sprouts I've done following your method with the bath and greening steps and they've turned out wonderfully. They have so much more flavor and crunch than the store-bought ones and last much longer. Thanks for sharing that - on your blog, some time ago.

[Carmella]

I'm so glad my sprouting method is working well for you too. I also have some on the way...

[shannsu]

Hey Carmella!

Made some of this Yummy Pesto today... Wonderful. Since I had no spinach (my garden is overwatered with all the rain) I used some red beet leaves instead. The colour was a non-descript shade of reddish-brown but the taste was outstanding!
Thank you so much. I just loooove pesto!
Shannsu
PS I am going to look up that sprouting method of yours. Sounds intriguing.

[Carmella]

Oh yay! So glad you enjoyed it, Shannsu! It's still the one I make all the time, well, provided there's fresh basil around. Don is going to town tomorrow and it's market day so hopefully he'll manage to get his hands on some. *fingers crossed*

[Gittel]

How did the frozen zucchini turn out?

And what kind of containers do you use to freeze blended zucchini? Pesto?

Gittel