If you’ve ever wondered how to make, and freeze, homemade pesto, you’re in the right place! This article will walk you through making the pesto with fresh herbs, and then freezing it to use later in the year.
I love me some pesto.
My favourite way to eat it is in a sandwich of toasted sourdough bread spread with a little more butter than is socially (or medically) acceptable. The fresh pesto is piled on next and then a couple of rashers of crispy smoked bacon. The bacon needs to be straight-from-the-pan hot so that it just starts to melt the butter before being snaffled up.
Delicious. And if you ever meet me and clock my ample waistline, you’ll know I tend to enjoy this treat a little too often!
However, store bought pesto contains cheese which is off my menu so I ensure I grow a goodly sized patch of basil every year, purely for my own secret pesto stash. I then freeze it in handy serving sized lumps to use throughout the months ahead.
The recipe here includes a good chunk of parmesan, but I leave it out for a near perfect dairy free version.
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 7 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 50 g Parmesan cheese
- 100 g basil
In a food processor, blend together the garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and salt and Parmesan into an oily sauce.
Add in the basil, stalks and all, and blend again until it is all incorporated.
You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to achieve this.
To use it fresh, add one tablespoon per serving to your cooked pasta, sandwich or other meal. If you wish to freeze it, keep reading…
You can either pack the fresh pesto into ice cubes trays, or lay out scoops of it on baking trays like I did.
If you choose the latter, place a piece of baking paper onto a baking sheet.
Using a tablespoon, measure out portions and place them onto the baking paper an inch to two apart. Try to keep the pesto in little heaps, so that they stick together once frozen.
Place the Pesto into the freezer for a minimum of two hours, or preferably overnight.
Once frozen solid, each little pesto blob can be removed from teh baking paper and stored in a Tupperware tub or freezer bag.
Whenever you wish to use the pesto, simply remove as many ‘blobs’ as you like, remembering that one blob = one serving.
Let thaw at room temperature for an hour or two, or overnight in the fridge.
What’s your favourite way to eat pesto?
Karen says
I also love me some pesto and your sarnie idea sounds lush too! Mind you anything with smoked bacon has my name all over it! Lovely photos too Janie-Kins! Karen
Jane Sarchet says
What is it about smoked bacon? It is a superfood huh? :)
Thank you for the kind words on my pics too. Coming from you Karen, that is a huge compliment :)
Janie x
Bake says
Pesto and bacon? How have I never had that combination?! Will need to fix that this weekend :) I agree – lovely photos! xoxo
Jane Sarchet says
Haha, can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it Bake. Hehe, you’re gonna be addicted :oP
Janie x
Louisa Foti says
OMG that sarnie sounds LUSH!!! I love homemade pesto (and have blogged about my obsession probably a little too much!) in every shape and form but have NEVER eaten it in a sarnie with butter and bacon. Respect. Total respect. When I get back to the land of good bacon I shall most definitely be trying one of these out. Happy days!.
Jane Sarchet says
Oh gawd, you’d gonna LOVE it Louisa!!!
Janie x
Nick @ Bakingbeardy says
I actually prefer parsley pestos – I can’t really get into basil ones (although fresh ingredients would help!)
Jane Sarchet says
Oh interesting, I’m really not all that keen on parsley at all! I think Mum grows it in her garden so I’ll give the pesto a try :)
Janie x
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
You know that I am a pesto addict right? So I am always sniffing out new pesto recipes. I actually made parsley pesto for a blog recipe last week ( I don’t like parsley either) but the pesto was gone before you could even blink so try it out. I found that the outdoor grown parsley I used needed a bit more oil than the basil pesto would.
Jane Sarchet says
Oooh you lot are teasing me with your tales of parsley pesto! It’s on my list of things to do!
Janie x
Lizzy (Good Things) says
Janie, this is a brilliant post! I had read that you can freeze pesto, but I have yet to try it… your instructions have given me the confidence to do it… cannot wait for summer and home grown basil and garlic now!! xox
Jane Sarchet says
Perfect! Hope you can fill your freezer this summer Lizzy!
Janie x
Simone says
You’ve just made my stomach rumble… Seriously… Not so much for the pesto (as much as I love pesto) but for your mentioning that sourdough bread and the butter… Both of which are off limits at the moment. The pesto – on the other hand – I could definitely eat and great idea on the freezing too!
Jane Sarchet says
Oh gawd, sorry Simone. You know, whenever I give up bread I lose weight in a heartbeat. But I love bread a little too much to write it off entirely!
I am following your 30 days of madness, um, I mean healthiness. Hang on in there girl!
Janie x