Fun with Basil!

My first harvest of the year! The garden is still alive! Mostly because we're getting a lot of rain this spring. Not really because I've lovingly tended to the poor plants. But they're all still doing very well, I am pleased to report.

Much like this sassy lady, I went out to check on the garden today. Except I was not really in a thigh-high and heels kind of mood today. Maybe next time...

I went out today and picked a pile of basil. It was about to think about blooming, and I think you need to start picking off of it before it blooms. So that's what I did. It smells so good!

I ended up being called away on some kind of Fairy Mermaid Princess emergency, so if anything harrowing like that that happens to you when you first pick your herbs, just throw them in some water until you're ready.

The basil patiently waits on me. When I return we discuss it and decide it's the perfect day for the season's first pesto. You will have all of this on hand, I bet.

2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
**to be authentic you can add pine nuts
(I used all of mine on dolmades!)

Now comes the hard part. Dump everything into a food processor:

Process it.


Presto! Pesto!

At this point, the herby-cheesy-garlicky air in my kitchen has me pretty hungry. Might as well use some of this pesto for something immediately. How 'bout...

Ah, yes. This will do quite nicely.

Split the pita into two rounds. I went ahead and cut those in half also. Then brush on some pesto. Just a thin coat. I went a little thick and they didn't crisp up all the way.

Now cut them into wedges with a pizza cutter:

Pop 'em in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

(I would do a china check a la my bff Pioneer Woman, but y'all would get sick
of hearing Fire King Jadeite or Pottery Barn "Emma" over and over!)

Delicious all by itself. Or serve with a salad. Yum!