Since I started to work with my mom to share her expertise on herbs, plants and crafts (check out Heavenly Flower Plants and Crafts), I started growing my own herb garden using the techniques I learned from her. I've always had a "brown thumb" rather than a green thumb, so I was very happy when my herbs started growing and I had a proper herb garden! 🎉
As I learned from my mom, herbs like to be trimmed to keep them stimulated to grow healthy and hearty. My basil and mint were really getting big, so I knew I had to trim them to keep them happy, but then I would have a ton of basil and mint and I had to do something with it. I wanted something more than the standard pesto, so I decided on a mint basil pesto and whoa, it was so AMAZING! Even the picky kids couldn't get enough of it, eating it plain with crackers.
You can use this pesto on really just about anything: chicken, beef, pork, fish (I would be careful using it on very light, tender fish because it does have a strong flavor), as well as with goat or cream cheese to be served with crackers as an appetizer, swirled into soups and more!
Servings: around 16 Tablespoons (or one cup of pesto)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: none
Level: Beginner
Ingredients:
1 cup each of fresh mint and basil leaves, washed and dried
2 cloves of garlic (use one clove if you don't like strong garlic flavor)
1 scallion cleaned and cut into big pieces
1/4 cup chopped, toasted nuts, like almonds, walnuts or pine nuts (I used pine nuts and didn't toast them and it was fine, but toasting gives a nice flavor boost)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of the one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil (plus 1-2 Tbsp depending on the texture)
Procedure:
Place everything in a food processor (or blender) except for the olive oil. Process until everything is well blended, then, with the food processor running, stream in the olive oil. Process until smooth. Enjoy right away or put in the fridge until you're ready.
Komentarze