Sunday morning, Andrew and I treated ourselves to a cappuccino and walked down to the farmers market to get a few things for the week. They had huge bundles of fresh basil for only $1 so we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to make fresh pesto. My mom usually makes a big batch and freezes some to use throughout the cooler months when her garden is no longer overflowing with fresh basil. We thought it was a brilliant idea, and wanted do the same.
I'd seen the idea on Pinterest to freeze pesto in ice trays for easy to use portions, and I'd been wanting to test it out. I referred to this recipe for the pesto, but I didn't measure anything, just used my best judgement. I'd say we used significantly less oil than it called for, and double the basil. I hadn't heard of adding lemon to pesto before, but we have a meyer lemon tree in our backyard, so I figured why not add some lemon zest and fresh squeezed juice. It's a very subtle flavor, but I liked it!
It made enough to fill one ice tray, and about a quarter cup we put in a jar to use this week. Once it was frozen, I used a knife to help pry each cube out of the ice tray and then transferred them into a freezer bag. I had sprayed the ice tray lightly with cooking spray before filling it with pesto, but I still needed the knife to help remove each pesto cube from the tray.
I'm looking forward to getting a taste of summer later this year when we use it. There is a small Italian market near our house, I think I'll have to buy some fresh pasta to pair with our pesto for a simple weeknight dinner. Or maybe we'll attempt making our own fresh pasta...
I hope you all had a great weekend as well! Have you ever made fresh pesto?
