Pesto on...

[HopeHoops]

It's in the works in our kitchen (with our own basil). What to put it on?

7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Pasta
	3 (43%)
	Pizza
	2 (29%)
	Steamed veggies
	0 (0%)
	Significant other
	0 (0%)
	Dip fresh baked bread or pita into it and double-dip with your significant other
	0 (0%)
	God I hate that shit.
	1 (14%)
	Cheese. Everything's good on cheese
	0 (0%)
	Rice
	0 (0%)
	Nacho chips
	0 (0%)
	Other...
	1 (14%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[arcane1]

1. Pesto goes great on EVERYTHING!!!!

[HopeHoops]

3. Squid?

[arcane1]

6. It would be the best part of Pesto Squid

[HopeHoops]

7. Well, no argument there. This pesto is REALLY yummy (and very strong).

[Major Nikon]

28. I like that idea

Yummy and sustainable.

[geardaddy]

15. +1000

[GoCubsGo]

26. Yes!

It's one of mankind's greatest culinary inventions.

[trof]

43. Bingo! And there's more than one kind of pesto:

Spinach pesto
Pistachio pesto
Lots of recipes.
All good.

[cliffordu]

2. Loved it for thirty years, can't get near it now.

makes me want to gag. Dunno what changed.....

[HopeHoops]

4. Well with freshly harvested basil, it really can't be beat. Grocery store stuff? Meh.

[Major Nikon]

29. I never was that good with growing basil

The problem is I can never designate enough garden space for it. My herb garden is all in containers because I have to move it around to account for the Texas summer heat. So I've been dedicating my space to other herbs and buying basil at the store. It's not as good, but I can't live without pesto and I also use fresh basil in other things.

[HopeHoops]

31. Fresh basil is fucking expensive!!! I built an herb box a few years back (4'x16').

It's on the southern side of the house, but does get late afternoon shade. EVERYTHING loves it there! We dedicated half of the box to basil this year and it went nuts. You just have to keep the flower heads pinched off and make sure it gets enough water. We've grown it in 8" clay pots also and that's plenty of soil to grow a healthy plant. I haven't bought herbs from a store in years. If we use it, we grow it.

[Major Nikon]

38. Tell me about it

I use a shitload of basil. I just haven't had much luck growing it here. I can't seem to water it enough in the Texas heat, and while I do have some strategic locations with late afternoon shade, most of that is taken up by other things. Another problem I have is the wife and I have a lot of extended weekends which we use to hop in the plane and go somewhere. My daughter generally goes with us in the summer and my son lives way on the other side of Dallas. I have some great neighbors, but I hate to ask them to water my stuff twice per day when they never ask me to reciprocate. I really just need to tap off my sprinkler system and use one of my zones to water my containers, but I've never done it. I have a really big back yard and my ultimate plan is to build an English style garden with raised beds, fountains, and brick walkways. I have about a 1/4 acre which will be dedicated to this and my sprinkler system will be completely redone to provide independent irrigation control to all the raised beds. It's going to cost me a shitpot of money to do what I want, but I see it as a project which is going to help keep me busy in my retirement years.

[HopeHoops]

39. Drip irrigation and a timer is the way to go. (read on).

I used drip irrigation in NH when I used to travel all the time. It works great. Basically it's just a flexible tubing about 3/8" diameter with T-junctions and you tap into it anywhere with a plug that punctures the tube and feeds a 1/8" tube out to a drip valve or a sprayer (both adjustable). Put a Y valve on the faucet, run one side out to the timer and from the timer out to the start point for the drip hoses. You can use as much tubing as you want from there. It's a very low-distribution system so water pressure is not a concern. That also leaves the faucet free on the other side of the Y for regular hose use.

I use the drip valves for plants like tomatoes and the sprayers for lettuce and other things that like to keep their leaves wet. I'd go with a sprayer for the basil because it encourages lateral root growth at the drip line. Even in NH, I could leave the system in place all winter and it was fine. I don't think you need to worry about that part. We just had our second frost. Even the beans took a hit from the second one. Then again, it's a month later than it usually happens.

[Major Nikon]

42. I don't have to worry about early freezes here

The only time we get a hard freeze is in January or February, if we get one at all. This time of year is still very much like summer up north. It was in the mid 80's today. Grass is still green and the flowers are still blooming.

[HopeHoops]

45. Curiously, our flowers are still blooming as well (and the grass is green).

The black-eyed susans are EVERYWHERE in the perennial bed (started with two small plants). The lavender is still attracting bumble bees, as are the butterfly bushes (two of which are volunteers). I think the lady Baltimore hibiscus has finally given out, but it started early and quit late. It's been a seriously weird year weather-wise.

[trof]

44. Try fresh spinach with just a few basil leaves.

Very tasty and GOOD for you.
Popeye was right!

[HopeHoops]

46. We've done that, when the spinach doesn't get rabbit-munched.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Pasta OR Pizza or......one of the greatest flavor combos ever, that which is Pesto!

[GoneOffShore]

8. Almost all of the above.

However you need to define pesto.

Parsley pesto?

Basil Pesto?

Coriander Pesto?

Oregano pesto?

And with pine nuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts?

[HopeHoops]

9. Our own basil and walnuts, with extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground parmesan of course.

The garlic may have been our own too. I don't know. We may have used all of that. But we've got gallon bags full of basil we grew. It did well this year.

We wanted to do pine nuts but couldn't find any (at several stores) - is there a shortage of them or something?

[GoneOffShore]

10. No shortage in Philadelphia.

Have you tried Trader Joe's?

[HopeHoops]

11. Don't have one around here.

[GoneOffShore]

12. Call Pronio's Italian Market

236 West Caracas Avenue Hershey, PA 17033

[phone]

[HopeHoops]

14. Nah, Healthy Grocer probably has them. I just haven't made it over that way.

[Chan790]

27. Where in MD?

Well, where in relation to DC really? There's an amazing Italian wholesaler in the city called A.Littieri that has everything.

Also, pinenuts? There in the supermarket here everywhere, I almost bought some this afternoon at Safeway but I decided I didn't need any.

[HopeHoops]

30. Bethesda, Wheaton, Columbia, Montgomery Village, Columbia again, Laurel, and Riverdale.

I know the area well. I get lost in DC because EVERY damn time I hit a rotary I end up in a right-turn only lane for the wrong street - EVERY DAMN TIME! I also worked (and had a second place) in Reston for two years (family lived in PA). There's a Trader Joe's there. Our supermarkets always have pine nuts. My guess is word got out that we had a shitload of basil ready for harvest and some evil villain stole them from all of the grocery stores just to deprive my family of having them for pesto. It turned out great with walnuts, but my wife really wanted the pine nuts. It's okay though, she's freezing most of the base (basil, galic, and oil) for use throughout the winter. We'll find some while the evil villain is sleeping.

[Chan790]

32. We're from the same neck of the woods. (Kinda.)

I live in Silver Spring, work in Takoma. I used to live in Columbia, then Crofton, then briefly in Landover, then considered Greenbelt.

If you do ever decide to make the trip into the city, you won't have the rotary/circle problem. (I'm strictly pedestrian (sometimes bus) so I just walk across the middle of them.) Litteri's is in NE, near Gallaudet. Also great cold cuts and cheeses, imported Italian goods. My best friend is a gourmand and introduced me to the place. http://www.litteris.com

[HopeHoops]

33. Where in Columbia? I lived on Thunder Hill Rd. and the second time near the hospital and HCC.

Went to Thunder Hill Elementary and Wilde Lake High (the original one that had the Star Ship Enterprise library - they rebuilt it in box format). If you were never in the original high school, think about the library in "The Breakfast Club" - that's what it looked like.

[Chan790]

35. Fairway Hills.

One of those bourgie developments put up by this national developer condo firm called Avalon over by the Ellicott City border and the Mall. I was working in the digital-media lab at Catholic at the time like 15 hours a day and spent most of my free time in the city so I never saw much of the area the year I lived there but as far as I saw there was nothing but golf courses, 3 minutes back to the highway and 5 minutes to the Mall.

It was a shitty little condo too but cheap.

[HopeHoops]

37. Yeah, I know where that is. My driver's ed teacher owned the house they demolished...

... to put in the N.E. loop of the 29/108 cloverleaf. They forced her out. When I first moved into Columbia (1968), we had the fourth house up on Thunder Hill Rd. (5047). Everything in front of the house was open field. I could see the pyramids on the Columbia Mall from my front porch. Things changed, and very rapidly. Rouse created the perfect environment for people of all ages, but he made one mistake - he forgot the 13-19 year old range. There was NOTHING to do, so of course we got into whatever trouble we could find. Reston (sister Rouse city) suffered the same fate.

When we moved there (house was built and we watched the progress), 108 was a windy, twisty, two-lane (barely) back road. The Allview Inn (just north of you on the other side of 108) was our "score some beer" store. I remember when people would dive off of the tower at lake (starts with a "Q" and nobody can pronounce it, but it's actual pronunciation is "Kit-a-ma-cundy" with no accent syllable) into relatively clean water. By the time I left the area, not only was swimming prohibited, but they'd begun to cut out paddle boats. It got really gross. And to think I used to fish in that artificially-created lake. The people tree was still cool, and I remember running around under the fountain.

I also remember when Hobbit's Glenn was only partially developed. One of the cul-de-sacs was our high school beer-drinking hang out. The cops mostly left us alone. And then there's Merriweather. I got season tickets every year - about $8/ticket (imagine that now). I saw some fucking good shows there. It was walking distance. I met Phil Collins at the Hilton there the day after my girlfriend died in a car accident on Cedar Lane (near the hospital). "Afterglow" was our song.

I still have trouble going back to that area. Good memories, yes. Bad ones, more.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

13. My dad's uncle is from Genova (Genoa) and family goes back centuries there

the recipe for pesto alla genovese is very simple. Fresh basil leaves, galic, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil and grated parmigiano reggiano and pecorino.

The word 'pesto' comes from the genovese dialect for 'stomping' because that's what you do: first, you stomp a clover of garlic (the recipe says a clove of garlic per 30 basil leaves). The garlic should not overcome the basil. Garlic should be used sparingly. Then you 'stomp' the basil leaves in olive oil until they are crushed and in small pieces. It is very easy to do in a chopper like a Magic Bullet. Then you add the grated parmigiano, pecorino and then the pine nuts (which shouldn't be ground too much).

That's it. Traditionally, pesto alla genovese is served on top of trenette (flat and wide spaghetti). Here is the official recipe (in Italian): http://www.mangiareinliguria.it/consorziopestogenovese/pestogenovese.php

[HappyMe]

16. Pasta!

I had some on cheese ravioli yesterday.
I have also smeared it on boneless, skinless chicken breasts and sauteed them up.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Pasta. Mmmmm, linguine and pesto.

[HopeHoops]

18. The kids picked elbow. I would have preferred spinach bow-tie.

[IcyPeas]

19. bruschetta

[HopeHoops]

20. OOOOOOHHHH!!! Good one! I LOVE that!

[ohiosmith]

21. I mix it in mayo and use it as a dip for fries.

[HopeHoops]

22. Oh fucking gross.

[stevenleser]

23. Everything!!!!! :-)

[HopeHoops]

24. Glazed doughnuts?

[stevenleser]

25. Sure! LOL

Well, maybe not sweet items.

Everything else though...

[pipi_k]

34. Pesto on....

Pesto off

[HopeHoops]

36. Aoh. Pipi_K-san. Do or not do. There is no try.

[Quantess]

40. On sandwiches.

with turkey and red onions.

[HopeHoops]

41. Well, I'll skip the turkey, but it's great on sandwiches!