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I love pesto of any variety. It is easy to make, freezes well, and is so versatile! Today’s version uses sun-dried tomatoes (also homemade, but you can buy them too), basil, walnuts, and fresh garlic, tomatoes, and walnuts. You can add parmesan cheese to this recipe if you are not eliminating dairy from your diet. 
- 4 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves (packed)
- 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
- 3-5 Roasted Jalapeño Peppers Add to desired hotness
- .5-1 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes
- 1-1.5 Cups Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 Fresh Tomato (Small)
- 2-3 Fresh Garlic Cloves
- 1/2-1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
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Combine all ingredients except olive oil in food processor. Pulse to begin chopping. Once ingredients have started to blend, add olive oil in the top, about 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing to combine. Once all oil has been added, pulse to desired consistency. Freeze in ice cube trays, use immediately, or keep in fridge for 2-5 days!
Check out this basil harvest from our garden! These leaves are big and beautiful. Now, you might notice the flowers on the top, which means that I neglected dealing with those babies. I try to pick off the flowers when they start to go to seed so that the plant’s energy will keep going into the leaves, and the leaves will stay sweet. However, no big deal with this harvest, the leaves were still perfect. I kept a few branches and leaves on the lowest part of each plant, and they will continue producing leaves until the first frost, YUM! Sometimes I can get 4 or 5 cuttings like this. 
Next comes the most time-intensive part, and I can usually talk SD and LB into helping me for a little while. You have to pluck all of the leaves off and get the stems and flowers discarded. If the leaf has a little discoloration, I’m not too concerned, but I also look for leaves that have been eaten by some pest. We don’t spray our plants, so bugs are pretty much the biggest enemy. I sort them right into a colander so that I can rinse them. 
Once rinsed, I spread them out on paper towels and pat them dry. The key to the freshest pesto is to make the pesto right after harvesting the leaves. They will stay fresh if you put them in the fridge for about 24 hours at this point (wrapped in damp paper towels), but they will start to brown after that. 
When I’m getting the basil ready, I also roast the jalapeños. These are also from our garden, and I just put them on the “roast” setting on my oven on a cookie sheet. I halve and seed them, so they are ready to pop in the food processor when they are done. Yes, that is also a spaghetti squash I am roasting in there for dinner. Double duty, people! That squash will stay in there once I take the peppers out. The peppers need about 15 minutes, more or less, depending on your oven. 
I take them out when they are starting to blister and brown, but before they blacken. It really is just personal preference. 
Now we’re ready to PESTO! I put about 4 packed cups into the food processor.
I toss in about 3 cloves of garlic. I like it fresh, but you could also roast it with the peppers for a milder flavor. 
Next come the sun-dried tomatoes. These are frozen, from last year’s yellow pear tomato harvest. They keep really well and stay sweet when frozen. 
Then I pop in one fresh tomato from the garden and about a cup of chopped walnuts. 
I typically add in about 3-5 of the roasted peppers, I usually taste them to help me decide, since sometimes they are hotter than others. I like my pesto with a kick, but not mouth-burning. 
Finally, about a tablespoon of tomato paste. I find this adds a rich flavor that I love, but you can easily skip it if it is not compliant with your diet. I also add in a little lemon juice (1 tsp) salt (1/4 tsp) and pepper (1/4 tsp). You can experiment with other spices if you like, but I like the basil flavor to shine.
Begin pulsing to get the ingredients to combine. Then begin adding the olive oil, about 1/4 cup at a time from the top, with the processor running (or you can keep pulsing if you like). Once the pesto is to a consistency you like, stop pulsing and adding oil. That’s it! At that point, it’s ready for pasta, sandwiches, and whatever you can think up. To preserve it, I put it in ice cube trays, freeze, and then put the cubes into a freezer bag. This is super handy for whenever I want to use it. Enjoy!!
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