With all of the beautiful greens being harvested currently in people’s gardens, I thought I would give a quick pesto recipe! I do not have any greens growing, unfortunately- my lettuce never germinated. But, I found this lovely organic spinach at our local salvage store on discount. The recipe calls for basil, but many greens can be substituted for the basil or the recipe adjusted, using half basil and half second green (ex spinach).

This recipe is adapted from Sally Fallon Morell’s book Nourishing Broth. If you haven’t ever read any of Sally’s books, I would highly suggest it! She is a wealth of knowledge on eating a traditional, nourished diet!

My garlic is homegrown, but that is all. If you were to purchase pesto at the store, you’d likely spend around $4 per jar (approximately 4 ounces). This homemade delight is definitely worth making at home and using throughout the year.

For reference, the photo above shows a double batch of the recipe evenly divided into silicone muffin cups. One muffin cup size is about the right serving size for a meal for our family of five. We love pesto in skillet dinners, but it is also amazing as pizza sauce or pasta sauce.

Homemade Pesto (adapted recipe)

• 2 cups spinach, packed tightly
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
• 1/4 cup organic olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (do not add if freezing)

Process spinach first until finely chopped. Add pecans, garlic, and salt. Process. After mixed well, slowly add olive oil while machine is on low. Place into silicone molds or ice cube trays. Freeze for several hours until hard. Preserve in freezer bags. If you are freezing, do not add the cheese until time of cooking/serving.

This pesto will last us for a while! I am very pleased to have it frozen and at the ready.

Note: Pesto cannot be safely canned at home. It is only safe commercially canned. Please preserve by freezing or eat fresh!