I once saw a post of how to process basil, cilantro, and parsley in a food processor with olive oil, but I forgot what else. I did it once and it lasted me a while in the fridge. I loved the idea, but I have since lost the instructions for how to do it. I tried to do it again, but I did something wrong because the mix quickly went bad (moldy). Does someone know how to do this?
By Rosa G.
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You can find all sorts of herb pesto recipes on the web but here is a very basic one. The cheese, nuts and lemon juice are optional depending on the herb you use. If you think you won't be using the pesto within a couple of days it freezes really well:
Basic Herb Pesto
2 cups fresh herb leaves, washed and removed from the stem
3-4 cloves garlic
1/4 to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated hard cheese
3/4 cup toasted nuts i.e. pine nuts, peanuts, walnuts
1 tsp grated lemon zest or 1 tbsp juice
Place herbs and garlic in a blender with a little oil or in your food processor without oil. Blend and process briefly. Add remaining oil in a slow stream through the feed tube, until the mixture achieves the consistency of thick cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add cheese, nuts and/or lemon and blend, if desired.
Do not try to preserve fresh herbs in olive oil. It will eventually go bad and you could get very sick/die from ingesting it. But you can first dry the herbs so that all the moisture is gone, then put in olive oil. This way it will keep a long and will not become rancid, etc. Anne
Rosa, no offense to annielaundrie but I think she mistook what you were asking for. Fresh herbs blended with olive oil in a blender is pesto sauce and completely safe to ingest as long as refrigerated no longer than a couple of days and/or frozen and then thawed to use immediately.
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