Every once in a while you need to go out there and harvest basil. Before it gets completely out of control.
Today I harvested three cups of basil. Mostly African blue basil, with some Genovese and a little Thai basil in the mix. That meant a triple batch of pesto to be made.
First, toasting a cup of pine nuts. Over low heat. Watching them the whole time.
The three cups of basil, cup of pine nuts, cup of cheese (I used Pecorino this time), six cloves of roasted garlic, all went into the food processor.
Then, the olive oil drizzling, addition of salt and pepper, none of this measured, by the way, continued until I had the taste and consistency I wanted.
This meant I ended up with three one cup containers of pesto. Two for the freezer, one in the refrigerator. My husband, of course, then wanted pesto pasta for dinner. Thankfully, there were bay scallops in the freezer, easy to defrost, and some dried artichoke pasta from The Common Market in the pantry.
The final dinner. Pesto pasta with sauteed bay scallops, scallions, and red pepper. A couple of sliced heirloom tomatoes from my garden and some mixed greens with feta. Oh, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
As for the wine match, we decided to test two local Virginia Sauvignon Blancs against one another. Both from 2011. Linden Avenius versus Doukenie. The Doukenie did well, standing up to the Linden but that wonderful Fume Blanc style of the Avenius was just a bit better. Way to go, Doukenie, for making a very nice SB.
Overall, not your typical Tuesday night dinner, but when you get fresh pesto, you take advantage of it.
hocofood@@@
AnnieRie Unplugged 
Dinner looks lovely, Annie. Reminds me that while I was out your way the tomatoes didn’t turn red, but the basil sure exploded. I think it’s trying to outcompete the volunteer squash that sprung up in the bed. Time to put some up. I keep mine thicker, and freeze it using a disher in lumps on a tray before moving to bags–that way I can use just a quarter cup or so each time.
Thanks!