One of the things I’ve looked forward to most about living in a house with a real yard, is the opportunity for a garden. We tried growing a few things at our apartment last year but we just didn’t get any sun and nothing flourished. The only two tomatoes that made it on our plant, ended plummeting three stories down before they were fully ripe.
Not this year!
Check out our green thumbs!
We’ve got three basil plants, two cilantro, dill, thyme, chives romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce, lots of different tomatoes, squash, banana peppers, jalapenos, and red and green peppers. So far, we’ve harvested some of the Bibb lettuce, a ton of basil and a few other herbs as we’ve needed them. Give it a few more weeks and we should have some of the tomatoes, peppers, and squash.
The two empty spots in front are where we harvested the Bibb lettuce. We read to cut them 1 1/2″ above the soil. It was scary because it didn’t look like anything would ever grow back, but if you look closely, new leaves are already sprouting! It’s only been 5 days.
Of course with the plethora of basil, I have to make pesto. We put basil pesto on sandwiches, pizza, pasta, crackers, and even eat it off the spoon.
I’ve always worked from the same recipe though you really don’t need exact measurements. You can leave out the pine nuts, swap out the cheeses, make a much smaller batch, etc.
INGREDIENTS
12 fl oz olive oil
3 oz pine nuts
6 oz basil leaves (If you don’t have a scale, estimate 3 very large handfuls. It’s a lot of basil.)
1 Tbsp garlic, chopped
4 oz parmesan, grated
4 oz romano, grated
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Place ⅓ of the olive oil in a blender or food processor and add all the remaining ingredients.
2. Blend or process until smooth.
3. Add the remaining olive oil and blend a few seconds to incorporate.
NOTES
From On Cooking, 3rd Edition.
This makes quite a bit of pesto and the recipe is easily cut in half or thirds.
Ruf Love 
