pesto change-o

Our garden got off to a good start this year. But then things fizzled. We had a bad case of tomato blight and could hardly harvest a decent sized tomato. Thankfully we had 3 or 4 cherry tomato plants and they did great. We need to do some soil improvement this fall and study up on some of the bugs that gave us trouble. The great thing about zone 7 is a longer growing season, but we have more trouble with bugs and fungi and blights than we did up north.

We are learning.

The basil and the garlic did great though. I harvested the garlic the other day and a bunch of basil before the deluge (3 inches of rain last Saturday). Our home smells like an Italian restaurant. Yum!

I made up a batch of pesto using this recipe (adapted from Simply in Season):

1 C. packed fresh basil leaves and tender stems
1-3 cloves garlic
1/3 C. pine nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts (toasted)
3-6 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt

Finely chop in food processor (not having one of these - I used the blender).
Add 1/3 C. olive oil while blender is running.

If I was any kind of a good blogger, I would have taken a picture of the bruschetta* I made with this. But it was so good, we devoured it.

*Spread pesto on thinly sliced French bread; top with a slice of tomato and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and golden. Devour.