Pesto for the Freezer

 Last Year's Post: Watermelon Gazpacho
Two Years Ago:    Apple, Bacon and Fontina Stuffed Acorn Squash

Pesto is one of the best ways to preserve a little sliver of summer to be brought out in the middle of winter - bright and aromatic basil with garlic, pine nuts, cheeses, olive oil and butter, it's one of my favorite ways to eat pasta.  Even if you don't have an herb garden, it's worth going to the farmers market to pick up a big bunch of basil at the end of summer so you can freeze several small jars.  Pesto is very versatile and can be used in sandwiches, on roast chicken or fish, and of course tossed with pasta.  Today we tossed it with spaghetti and served it with grilled shrimp, which was perfectly complemented by the bright garlicky pesto flavors.

I found this recipe many years ago in the "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan.  Although there are lots of pesto recipes out there, I particularly like this one for freezing because it tells you to leave out the cheeses and butter until after you thaw the pesto.  Adding them at that point makes the pesto taste much fresher.  Also, she tells you to beat the cheeses and butter in by hand rather than in the blender, which gives the pesto a more interesting texture.  Two really good tips.  I'm actually surprised that I haven't shared this recipe before - it's one of two essentials I make every fall to freeze, along with this roasted tomato salsa that I think is the best salsa ever.

The recipe is very easy to prepare so you can make multiple batches if you have a lot of basil (highly recommended).  I would freeze the pesto in small jars because a little goes a long way - the 1/3 cup or so in one of my jars will make plenty of pesto (when the cheeses and butter are added) to top four pieces of chicken or fish, or to toss with enough pasta to feed 2-3 people.

The beautiful green color, fragrance and fresh taste will be a huge reward for you in the middle of winter for just a little effort at this time of the year.

printable recipe

Pesto for Freezing

Makes approximately 2/3 – 3/4 cup of pesto, enough for 6 servings of pasta.  The recipe may be doubled or tripled.

2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves, rinsed and patted dry (or use a salad spinner)

½ cup good olive oil

2 tablespoons pine nuts (plus more, toasted, for garnish, optional)

2 -3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese*

2 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese*

3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature*

16 - 20 ounces of pasta, cooked and drained*

Coarse salt and pepper*

Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt in a blender and mix at high speed, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed with a rubber spatula, until evenly blended.

To Serve Immediately:

 Pour the pesto into a bowl and beat in the two cheeses by hand (this results in a more interesting texture and better flavor than if added to the blender).  When evenly incorporated, beat in the softened butter.  Before adding the pasta, add a tablespoon of pasta water if the pesto seems thick.

Add the hot pasta to the pesto and toss to coat evenly.  Serve at once, garnished with additional toasted pine nuts (optional) and a sprinkling of coarse salt and coarse pepper.

To Freeze for Later:

Pour the pesto (without cheeses and butter) from the blender into small jars, cover tightly, and freeze.  Before using, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  When completely thawed, beat in the cheeses and butter as described above.  Adding the cheeses and butter at this time rather than before freezing gives the sauce a much fresher flavor.  Frozen pesto will keep for up to 6 months.

  

* Not needed until later if you’re planning on freezing all the pesto.

The Best Salsa Ever

If you would also like to see last year's post regarding how to roast and freeze tomatoes, click here or check the archive at left for August, 2011.

OK, I know I'm sticking my neck out a little to claim this is the best salsa ever, but let me tell you why.  Some of you have heard me talk about our community garden adventure and the fact that we grew 28 different varieties of tomatoes.  What I haven't mentioned is that we grew two plants for each variety in the event that one was broken in the wind or otherwise croaked.  So we had 56 tomato plants.  What started as a bunch of cute little plants in spring turned into a veritable tomato tsunami in late summer that washed from the garden into our kitchen.  In addition to roasting tomatoes, eating tomatoes and giving tomatoes away, we tried probably 5 or 6 different salsa recipes over the years.  Most of them involved canning, which has the advantage of making lots of salsa at a time but it also involves specialized equipment and mass quantities of boiling water and steam at the hottest time of the year.

We chose our favorite recipe for a typical salsa and made it several years in a row.  But then I discovered this recipe, which I think came from celebrity chef Rick Bayless.  The flavor is entirely different from a typical salsa because all the ingredients are roasted until charred and then pureed, which gives it a smoky depth of flavor.  It's not watery like some homemade salsas, and it's not too thick like some of the popular store brands - it's just right.  (Sorry for the Goldilocks moment.)  An added bonus for the cilantro-haters out there is that it doesn't have any.  For the cilantro-lovers (like me), just put some cilantro in whatever you're serving with the salsa (like the quesadillas we're having tonight).  I would call the heat factor relatively mild, especially when served with chips or food.  Sampled by itself it will taste somewhat spicy but this is by no means a hot salsa.  It's meant to be smoky and warm, not hot.

The flavor is delicious and there's no canning involved - you just put the salsa into clean containers and freeze it.  It only takes about 30 minutes to make, and it's made in manageable quantities.  Here's all you need to make one batch, which makes about two cups of salsa.

 If you decide you really like it and want to make larger quantities, my suggestion is to make several batches rather than one big batch because if you crowd the broiler pan too much the vegetables will steam instead of charring properly, which is what gives them the smoky flavor.  (Not to mention that if you put more than one batch in the blender at a time you risk a salsa explosion all over your kitchen.)

 We make this every year now.  If you've never made salsa or even if you already have a favorite recipe, try this one and see what you think.  The ingredients are readily available at the farmers market or at the store and it's so easy to make it's almost foolproof.  Just be sure to tuck the garlic under the other ingredients before broiling so the garlic doesn't blacken along with everything else and turn bitter.  When it's hidden under something it steams and roasts and becomes mellow and sweet instead.

Not everything will char at the same rate.  At this point the jalapenos and garlic were ready to take out but the onion and tomatoes needed more time.

After a few more minutes under the broiler the onion and tomatoes were ready.

At some point during this process you will probably become deeply skeptical that it's going to work.  You'll look at that blackened mess and think there's no way it will ever turn into anything edible.

 Oh, ye of little faith.  Just add some water and turn on the blender.  You end up with a beautiful salsa with cool little charred specks.  It's magic.  And delicious!

* * click here for a printable recipe * *

Roasted Tomato Salsa
Yield: 2 cups

5 Roma (plum) tomatoes

8 garlic cloves, peeled

2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and seeded

½ medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half (2 quarters)

½ cup water

½ - 1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the broiler with a rack at the highest position possible without having the food touch the heating elements. Place the tomatoes, garlic, chiles and onion on a baking tray lined with foil. Tuck garlic under other vegetables to avoid blackening (they’re easiest to tuck under the jalapeno halves). Broil, turning frequently until well charred, about 15-20 minutes. You may need to take some of the vegetables out earlier than others for all to achieve the right amount of charring. Set aside to cool.

Core the tomatoes. With a rubber spatula, scrape the roasted ingredients and their juices (including the blackened skins) into a food processor or blender and puree with the water until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Keep refrigerated or may be frozen.

You Say Tomato

It's the time of the year when vegetable gardens explode.  I know that because we rented a community garden for three years.  One year in a fit of giddy spring enthusiasm we planted 28 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes.  That's right, twenty-eight different kinds. Needless to say, I've tried virtually every recipe and method of preserving/cooking/canning/freezing tomatoes on the planet.  The following technique for roasting tomatoes is far and away my favorite for a variety of reasons - it's easy, it doesn't require specialized equipment, the tomatoes don't take much room in the freezer, and they have a delicious, concentrated flavor.  The texture is halfway between a sun-dried tomato (which can be dry and chewy), and a canned tomato (too watery for some recipes).  Roasted tomatoes are ideal for egg dishes, tarts, quiches, pizzas, and stirring into other dishes such as cooked lentils served alongside a nice grilled salmon.  Close your eyes and picture them tossed in a green salad!  They would also work perfectly for spaghetti sauce, lasagna, and any other dish calling for diced or crushed canned tomatoes. 

Assuming for the moment that you don't have 28 different varieties of tomatoes to contend with, why would you want to buy and roast your own?  First, you can't buy tomatoes with this particular texture and flavor from a store.  Second, you're in control of the salt and other flavors.  Third, they'll remind you of summer when you break them out of the freezer in January and will make you smile.  And fourth, they're pretty darn spectacular when showcased in a tart, pizza, or salad. All you need is a baking pan (or two) with a rim, lined in foil to prevent the juices from running all over your oven.  I typically use the bottom part of the broiler pans that always seem to come with ovens.  When you're done, all you have to clean is a knife and a spatula.

So if you have the opportunity to buy some tomatoes at your local market in the next few weeks and a few hours of time when you'll be hanging around the house, I encourage you to give it a try.  It's fun!

printable recipe
Roasted Tomatoes
Tomatoes - beefsteak or roma (just not cherry tomatoes)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Optional:  slivered garlic, fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 350d. Line a rimmed baking pan with foil and brush with olive oil.  Core the tomatoes and cut in half.  For romas, cut through the stem end.  For beefsteak tomatoes, cut through the horizontal middle (not the stem).  Poke the seeds out with your fingers and put the tomatoes cut side up on the baking sheet.   Rule of thumb - I was able to fit 12 romas (24 cut halves) per broiler pan.  Beefsteak tomatoes would probably fit 8-10 per pan depending on size.  Brush the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with garlic and herbs if you wish. Put the pan in the center of the oven.  If you have two pans, put them in the top and bottom thirds and rotate after half the time.  Roast romas for 2 hours, and beefsteak tomatoes for approximately 3 hours, until shrunken and dark.  Cool and pack in a container with any juice or olive oil that remained in the pan.  If you want roasted tomato olive oil for bread dipping or salad dressing, pour additional olive oil over the tomatoes.  Freeze.



48 roma tomato halves in one small container