I've been lucky enough to try Indira Naidoo's pesto - she's my balcony garden hero as you know - so I cracked open my copy of her book, The Edible Balcony and got to work.
The recipe is actually really easy and that's saying something as I find cooking quite stressful and often get flustered when trying to follow a recipe. That all said I probably should get myself a food processor that's slightly larger than a coffee cup as I ended up making a very VERY big mess.
I added a bit more garlic than called for and also threw in some rocket
that I have growing which gave the pesto a nice peppery bite. I found the smell of the basil quite overpowering - to be honest it made it feel a little ill. Someone suggested I try growing a Lemon Basil as the smell is less pungent, but the flavour still works really well in pesto. I also have some organic basil seeds waiting to be planted so we'll see how stinky they turn out to be.
You can view more Harvest Monday posts on Daphne's Dandelions blog.
Ooh good thinking, I might try adding rocket to mine next time too
ReplyDeleteIt's good...I'm thinking of just making a rocket pesto next time.
DeleteI was wondering whether her book was worth getting - you have sold me. I am hoping to set up an edible "balcony" in my tiny townhouse backyard.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - you need a processor bigger than a coffee cup. Even though I live alone, I have my (knock off) thermoix for blending and processing...
It really is an excellent book...it's help me a lot as has her blog. I'll get onto that bigger food processor...my 2013 dream.
DeleteI love the idea of adding rocket! I am going to try this next time!
ReplyDeleteI adore having a garden patch, even if I do kill off most of my edibles! Flowers, easy and plentiful, fruit & veg I kill :(
I think anything green and leafy (within reason that is - no lettuce please) could go into pesto...I've also heard of coriander pesto! True story.
DeleteBasil does smell pretty strong doesnt it? I love that you added the rocket. Rocket pesto is my fave so I think it'd be fab in a basil one too. A little less funky, if you will.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the basil was making me feel ick and I got such a headache from it. Not happy Jan!
DeleteNothing beats a good pesto. I was very skeptical of adding rocket (with or without basil) but it does work well.
ReplyDeleteIt's great isn't it!
DeleteYour basil and pesto both look great Mel. I totally love pesto but the recipe I use is pretty rich...a lot of olive oil & cheese. A little bit goes a long way. Happy gardening :)
ReplyDeleteI think I was a bit too liberal with the oil & cheese too.
Deleteoh nice! i just made my own pesto from my self grown basil too! i'm making gnocchi as i type to pair with my pesto!
ReplyDeleteGnocchi...yum! Is that easy to make.
Deleteyour getting good! i love rocket in basil pesto too.
ReplyDeleteEvie now has her own little garden that she has planted carrot, tomato, and bean. I'll have to take a pic for you. We got a Stephanie Alexander book for chrissy and it talks about getting kids to have their own garden that they have to look after by themselves - thought it was a great idea :)
I bet Evie's garden is amazing (and it's the actual ground - something I'm a tad envious about)!
DeleteWhat a reward for your efforts! I find I can't eat the pesto straight away after making it and leave it a little and it's fine. I think it's one of the cooks curses that you often don't enjoy what you made until later. Love the rocket idea too, much cheaper than basil as well.
ReplyDeleteRocket is less stinker than basil too - is that why you cannot eat it straight away?
Deletehome made pesto with home grown basil sounds like heaven - am sure it tasted wonderful just because you have invested some much into it - and fresh is truly best too (I am very fussy about buying pesto because so much is dire)
ReplyDeleteAfter trying Indira's basil pesto I was hooked on the idea of making my own.
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