Garden Pesto

We are in the middle of the most rewarding weeks of the year, garden-wise. Every single meal we eat these days contains something we grew in our little backyard victory garden. I'd like to share a couple of my very own fresh garden recipes this week. I love pesto, but unfortunately our basil hasn't flourished this year. Our oregano has though, so oregano pesto it is!

Garden Pesto

2 cups fresh, washed basil OR oregano leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup nuts (try pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, or almonds)

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced or pressed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put all ingredients except oil, salt & pepper into a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds until finely chopped. Then with processor running slowly stream in the olive oil. 

Once smooth and combined, turn off processor and pour into a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Add a few table spoons to Alfredo sauce for delicious pesto pasta or stir a few spoonfuls into a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers (or veggies) for a yummy appetizer. Store leftover pesto in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should keep for a week or so, or you can freeze it. If you make a bigger batch you can pour it into ice cube trays and freeze and then pop them out and keep in a ziplock to use a cube or two as needed.

Oregano is perennial and it has started taking over our herb garden, so I love recipes like this where you can use a lot at once. I have made this using pecans and almonds and honestly like this pesto with oregano as much as any basil pesto. I hope if you have a garden you are enjoying the bounty of the season. Doesn't it feel great to grow things you can eat? I guess that's why they call it a victory garden.

Thanks for reading!

- Haley