The Weblog
Time to Order
Good afternoon.
The Wednesday Market is open for orders. Please place your order by 10 p.m. Monday. Orders are ready for pick up between 3 and 6 p.m. Wednesday. See the website for this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: https://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
At church this morning, my friend gave me a sizeable bag of fresh basil from her garden. I am delighted with the gift! While I tend to like most herbs, I LOVE basil. My favorite summertime dish is caprese salad – sliced fresh mozzarella cheese interspersed with sliced tomatoes garnished with shredded basil drizzled with a good balsamic vinegar. A little bit of coarse salt heightens the flavors of the simple ingredients. Delicious!
What else is there to make with basil? Today, I am inspired to make pesto. Here’s how: put about 2 cups of fresh basil leaves and 1/3 cup of pine nuts (or walnuts, because I never have pine nuts but always have walnuts) into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times. Add about 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. (Freshly grated matters; don’t use the stuff that comes in a canister. Buy a little shrink wrapped wedge of real cheese and grate it yourself. There is no comparison!) Also add about 3 cloves of minced garlic and pulse the food processor a few more times. Then, with the food processor running, add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a thin, steady stream. The objective of this step is to emulsify all of the ingredients into a smooth consistency. To finish, sprinkle in salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and pulse to mix.
Use pesto as a sauce over pasta, or spread it on toasted bread, or use it as the base sauce on homemade pizza. You can even use it as a mayonnaise substitute on your favorite sandwich. I hope you enjoy making and using pesto.
Thank you for supporting locally grown agriculture. We’ll see you at the Market.
Thanks,
Beverly