Pesto Preserved (and Reconstituted)

Like a lot of herb gardeners, I grow basil plants. Like a lot of cooks, one of my favorite things to do with basil is make pesto - that sublime blend of basil leaves, olive oil, nuts, Parmesan cheese and garlic that goes so well with any kind of pasta. Also, like any cook who makes pesto, I know how much of it you can end up with in a very short time, and how easy it is to waste, especially when you make a big batch and there's only two of you eating it.

"What's for dinner?"
"Pasta with pesto."
"What, AGAIN?"
"I can't help it... we've got four cubic yards of the stuff."

Technically, pesto can be frozen, but one problem with doing that is, I've always found defrosted frozen pesto has a bitter taste to it - I suspect it's the garlic, but whatever it is, I've always had to add salt and other seasonings to make pesto edible after freezing.

So this past fall, when I found myself with four plants to strip and a ton of basil leaves to process, I fell back on a tactic I learned from my father - making pesto base instead of pesto sauce.

In this method, you don't make the whole pesto and freeze it. Instead, you simply puree your basil leaves with enough olive oil to make a thick paste - and then freeze that. This "pesto base" can then be unfrozen when needed, and the other ingredients - cheese, garlic and your favorite nuts - added. The result is almost as good as fresh-off-the-plant, and a great way of bringing that flavor of pesto into the depths of winter. And since we're just on the cusp of basil season (my six plants are just getting their main growth spurt on), I thought I'd share both the technique and the results.

To make about 1 pint of pesto base:

- 4 cups fresh-picked basil leaves, washed, picked over and dried
- About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Pack leaves into the bowl of a food processor with the chopping blade inserted. With processor running, stream olive oil in to form a thick paste or slurry (you may need to stop and scrape down the sides of the processor with a spatula). Add more olive oil if necessary.

Decant the paste into food-saver or sealable freezer bags. Extract as much air from the bag as possible and seal. Can be frozen almost indefinitely.



To use frozen pesto base:

- Thaw pesto base in refrigerator . Open bag and drain any excess liquid.
- Decant base into food processor.
- For 1 pint of base, add (adjust to your taste):
- 1.5 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2/3 cups pine nuts or blanched, slivered almonds
- 2-3 (or more) cloves garlic

Add in the garlic and pine nuts. Blend with the paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the cheese in batches and blend. Taste and adjust as needed. It should not be necessary to add more olive oil, but do so if you think it is required.

The reconstituted pesto will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days, longer (1-2 weeks) if refrigerated with a layer of olive oil poured over the top to keep air out. Bring the pesto sauce to room temperature and drain off the oil before using. For a good pesto flavor, allow 1 generous tablespoon of sauce to each 4 ounces of pasta.