[Recipes] Pesto Picking Time

I love summer when there is an abundance of crops ready to harvest for making Pesto.

The typical pesto recipe has as it's main component basil but did you know you can make pesto out of arugula, rosemary, spinach or pumpkin seeds?

Have you ever tried combining different herbs into your pesto with the basil. Try adding some rosemary, thyme, marjoram or oregano. There also is calendula pesto and roasted garlic and red pepper pesto (see recipes further down the post.)

One of my favorite pesto is Lemon Pesto - recipe below:

Lemon Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
3 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of unblanched almonds
2 cups basil leaves firmly packed
3 tbsp. chopped fresh lemon herb leaves (lemon thyme,lemon balm, lemon verbena or lemon basil)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
Mince garlic in a food processor or blender (I use a Vitamix.) Add almonds and process until coarsely chopped. Add basil, lemon herb, cheese and lemon zest; process until minced. With machine running add olive oil and lemon juice Process until blended.

Calendula Pesto
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp chopped ginger root ( or 2 ginger squares in syrup)
1/2 cup unblanched almonds
1 cup fresh calendula petal
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup thyme leaves
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
Mince garlic and ginger in a food processor or blender (I use a Vitamix.) Add almonds and process until coarsely chopped. Add calendula, basil, thyme and cheese; process until minced. With machine running add olive oil. Process until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired.

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Pesto
Ingredients
2 heads of garlic
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups roasted red peppers, strained
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup red pepper marinade (see recipe below)
Directions:
Cut 1/4 inch off top of each garlic head. Remove outer loose skin. Put into a cassole dish, tops up. Drizzle with olive oil. cover and bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
Squeeze garlic cloves from heads and put into a food processor or blender. Add red peppers, basil and pine nuts. Processes until finely chopped. With motor running add marinade.Proces until blended smooth.

Red Pepper Marinade
1/3 cup olive oil, 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar and 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. Whisk together to pour on roasted peppers or use in the pesto recipe above.