We love and eat a lot of fresh basil but we have been making my own pesto for about 4-5 years now. Each following year I grew more basil and made more pesto so in 2023 I made about 30 jars.
These are the proportions of ingredients that work for us so please make a small batch first to adjust to your own taste and then make bigger batches. I’m pretty sure you won’t buy pesto from store ever again.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of fresh basil leaves
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 cup pine nuts (you can substitute with other nuts)
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- Salt to taste
Blend everything until you reach the desired consistency. Transfer the pesto into disinfected jar/s leaving about 1” space on top. This will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. If you’ve made a small batch and want to eat it within the next few weeks you can just leave it in the fridge but if you have more than one jar, I would suggest some preserving method. It is best that you use the method you are comfortable with but we will share what works for us below.
We put jars in boiling water for about 25-30 minutes (this is according to the size of jars). Take them out of the boiling water and place on a clean towel. Let cool. Store in a dark place. These should be used within a year according to most guidelines but mine kept well for 2 years.
Thank me later….
Enjoy!
