Making Pesto

The temperatures in Massachusetts are dropping into the mid 30's every night and the days are growing short.   It's time to harvest the last of our summer planting before the first hard freeze of Fall.   Although I'll keep oak leaf and red fire lettuce growing under the cold frame for another month, our bush-sized basil plants need to be harvested before they wither from the nightly low temperatures.

What do you do with 20 pounds of basil?   Make enough pesto to last all winter.   As vegans, we'll be eating pesto pizza, pesto linguine, and pesto covered toasted breads as the weather gets cold.

My wife has diligently plucked all the best leaves, visited Trader Joe's to stock up on pine nuts, and bought a box of Yellingbo olive oil.   Here's our recipe:

Vegan Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pine nuts
1-2 tablespoons garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Combine all ingredients except oil in a food processor until nuts are ground. Add oil until texture is creamy. Pesto should still have some texture (not too pureed).  Freeze extra in small containers for future use.