Eating on the Farm - Basil Walnut Pesto
I had a friend in high school whose family used to invite me to dinner from time to time, which was so nice, and we would frequent a pretty popular Italian restaurant. At the time, it felt very elegant, and I was quite taken with the whole experience. There was a dish there that became my go-to, and while I haven’t had it in probably over 2 decades, still occupies a place in my food memory bank. It was a mushroom ravioli with pesto sauce. Thinking back on it now, it was most-certainly a cream-based pesto sauce, rather than a strictly defined pesto, but still, the fact remains that it showed me the glory that is basil pesto.
Pesto, of course, is a word that shares its roots with the English word, ‘pestle,’ as in ‘mortar and pestle.’ It may come as no surprise that, like a molcajete in México, the mortar and pestle is used in many cuisines to make sauces and curry pastes, and Italian pesto is no different. Legend is that the molcajete, seasoned over hundreds of uses, will impart some flavor to a salsa or sauce made using it, although because I’m often making such a huge batch on the farm, we opt for the food processor.
Pesto in our house becomes a dip for crackers and raw veggies, a spread on toast or tomatoes, a base for soup or other sauces, a coating for roasted vegetables, as a layer on pizza, the obvious use with pasta, and even an addition to salads. I opt for the less-costly walnuts or pecans over the more-traditional pine nuts, and I also have been known to add in carrot greens, cilantro, and other available fresh herbs.
Here’s a basic recipe we use for pesto around Quelite Farm.
Basil & Walnut Pesto
Soak ~1 cup raw walnuts for a few hours to soften (also makes nutrients more bioavailable!)
Strip 2-3 cups basil from stem
Drain walnuts, process with basil, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup nutritional yeast (or parmesan), salt & pepper, & ~1 cup olive oil (added slowly while pulsing)
Pulse until desired texture, ~1 minute
NOTE: Also consider red pepper flakes, lemon juice/zest, cilantro, carrot greens. Try with raw, spiralized zucchini or ribboned zucchini noodles.
