Stockpiling pesto

Yesterday after the race I had a practically gleeful morning prowling around town. I picked up some new food for Wish, stopped by the coffee shop for a beverage, swung by the farmer's market for a bushel of basil and some sweet corn, and visited the library to browse. It was the best kind of errand-running in that every errand was something fun. Does that ever happen?

Anyway, back to that bushel of basil. It wasn't quite a bushel, but I did buy a bunch of, well, bunches.

You guys know I had pesto on the brain - more specifically, stretching fresh pesto as far into the fall as possible.

I've been hearing from friends and family about this whole freezing-the-pesto project. I've never tried it, but I would love to have this garden-(or farm)-fresh basil thing available in the kitchen whenever I want! Making a big batch of pesto in the summer is also on my 101 list, so I figured this was as good a year as any to launch this project.

I started with this, which is about one-fourth of my total basil purchase:

You make pesto with your favorite recipe - some combination of pine nuts, olive oil, and garlic. It usually includes parmesan cheese, but my internet research suggested that I leave it out because it doesn't freeze well. You're apparently supposed to add it in when you're cooking with the frozen pesto. (Do you like how I'm writing things like "apparently" and "suggested"? Clearly, I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

I worked in small batches, making about five ice cubes' worth of pesto at a time. It fades from bright green to a darker shade pretty quickly, hence the batch on the right looking kind of funky. Study the stuff on the left instead, okay?

And now the trays are safely in the freezer, ready for use down the road. My research indicates that I have three months to use it all. Is that a challenge? I'm ready to tackle it!

(I'll provide a Part II review when I actually cook with the frozen pesto. Fingers crossed.)