Basil Pesto Recipe

Photo by Arlie Sommer.

By Arlie Sommer and Tamara Sloviaczek, July 2021

With the hot weather that tropical plants love and that inspires us to make meals that don’t need use of the oven or stove, July is the perfect month to make Pesto. Basil is in its prime season in July and that’s when we can take advantage of its abundance. 

Enjoy this “crushed herb” dish as a sauce on pasta or rice, on bread or crackers, and as a marinade for your grilled vegetables and meats.

Jackie Sommer harvests basil in the greenhouses at Purple Sage Farms. Basil plants yield many cuttings throughout the year, sometimes even through November, but the peak season is July and August. Photo by Arlie Sommer

Pesto Ingredients

8 cups basil leaves and blossoms, removed from stems

1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans

6 garlic cloves

4 oz. of Parmesan cheese, chopped into 1 in. cubes (or substitute 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Pack the basil into an 8 cup food processor and add nuts, garlic cloves and cheese cubes, or nutritional yeast, and salt. 

2. Measure olive oil and set aside. 

3. Pulse the food processor to chop and mix the basil, nuts and cheese. After the initial chop and mix, add the olive oil in a thin stream while processing into a relish consistency. 

4. Add salt to taste and lemon juice, if desired, to maintain the bright green color.

5. Scoop the pesto into your serving dish and enjoy, or freeze for later. 

Mike Sommer shows off a tub of basil he just harvested from the greenhouse. Photo by Arlie Sommer