Parsley Pesto
Updated: Apr 30, 2020
In our garden, we have a true potager: a kitchen garden that is right off the house and laid out partially for beauty, not just function.
Our main garden is very functional: rows and rows of raised beds that make planting, watering, weeding, and picking easy and efficient. Our herb garden though, meanders. With a sitting area and walking paths and a little potting bench area. It's easy to run out and grab some herbs when we need them. Plus, the house helps shade the delicate plants in the afternoon heat.
When we first moved into the house, this area was almost all mint and parsley. Every year, those are the first to come back - and with no other plants to fight for space, they tend to take over! We have to thin out so much parsley and mint, just to make room for the basil, rosemary, and chives - plus this year, I'm adding chamomile.
I did my first round of thinning a couple of weeks ago and gave to friends and neighbors. Then round two of thinning, our chickies got some parsley and some went to compost.
And today, it's time to cook with some!
EASY PARSLEY PESTO
I'm making a parsley pesto to serve with pasta, steamed veggies, and shrimp. Pesto is so easy to make and uses up a ton of parsley!
2 cups parsley leaves removed from the stems and packed tightly
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
a little more than 1/4 cup of EVOO and a little more than 1/4 cup of lemon olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
lemon juice to taste
Blend it in a food processor - and you're done!
A FEW NOTES
Traditional pesto has cheese as well - usually Parmesan or something similar. We can't have cheese in our family, so I added extra pine nuts. Honestly, I don't miss the cheese in this dish! (I miss it in a lot of other dishes though!!)
You don't have to do lemon olive oil by any means - I just wanted that tang to counteract the bite of the parsley! But using all EVOO is great too, and a splash of fresh lemon juice.
This is a basic recipe that is pretty hard to mess up. So just taste, adjust, experiment - and enjoy the flavor of fresh herbs!