Pesto and Pistou

Basil is in season. For those of you who love pesto, or it’s dairy-free cousin pistou, here is a step by step guide to make it, freeze it, and ideas to use it.

I love pesto! So naturally I keep a few basil plants in my garden. They happen to do very well here in Texas. The first year I grew it I found myself wondering what to do with all the basil. I was thrilled to find pesto freezes beautifully. Having a stash in my freezer gives me a variety of tasty options later. Such as:

• Pesto Chicken: (for Paleo & PK diet use pistou) Pound chicken breasts to 1/2″ thick. Season with sea salt. Mix 2/3 cup pesto or pistou with 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice. Slather the chicken with it, marinate at least 6 hours. Then bake at 350F/177C for about 30 minutes.
• Pesto Salmon: (for Paleo and PK diet use pistou) Season salmon steaks with sea salt. Mix 1 cup pesto or pistou with 1/3 cup lemon juice. Slather on the salmon and let sit 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F/205C. Roast for 15 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.
• Pesto Bean Dip: (SCD and Vegetarian) Put 2 cups SCD legal cooked Navy beans (soak overnight then cook), 1/3 cup pesto or pistou, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in a food processor. Pulse to puree. Adjust flavor as needed. Serve with veggie slices, SCD crackers. or spread over SCD flatbread. Lunchbox friendly!
• Pizza sauce: use in place of tomato based pizza sauce. It’s flavorful and nightshade-free. I love this crust recipe from Cantillon Kitchen, but it would also be good on chicken meatza (Paleo and PK use pistou).

Pesto has 6 ingredients and uses parmesan cheese and nuts. Traditionally it uses pine nuts, but I use walnuts. Pistou uses basil leaves, salt, garlic, and olive oil, although some recipes will add parmesan. So it’s easy to adjust pesto or pistou to your dietary needs or to what you have on hand.

Rinse basil leaves then spread over a kitchen towel to dry.

Add basil leaves, walnuts, and garlic cloves to bowl of a food processor. For pistou, you can omit the walnuts if you choose.

Pulse until leaves are in small bits, but not pureed.

Add shredded Parmesan and sea salt. For pistou you can omit the cheese.

Add top to the processor. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while pulsing. Occasionally stop and check for desired consistency.

To freeze, put into containers. I love these molds! I can freeze pesto in 1 cup and 1/2 cup portions. The recipe I have below will make about 2 cups. Here I made slightly more.

Wrap the frozen cubes in wax paper, place in a marked plastic bag or container, and place in freezer. Most recipes recommend freezing up to 3 months, but I have had luck with 6 months.

Pesto & Pistou