Blanched Pesto

​This is the point in the summer when my garden starts to look really pathetic.  My cucumber plant is withered and spent, my pepper plant is being taken over by aphids and I'm battling the bunnies for authority over my herbs.  The one thriving plant in my garden this month is my basil so I'm going to take advantage of it and add basil to all of our meals this month.  

I actually copied this recipe for blanched pesto into my blog que over a year ago and by the time I got around to making it, my basil had expired.  (That's a nice way of saying that I didn't keep it pruned and I let it go to seed.) 

I love fresh pesto and I was super excited to try this recipe but it just wasn't cost effective for me to buy the 6 cups of fresh basil leaves that this recipe requires.  No one wants to spend 30.00 on a batch of pesto - especially me.  Sooo ... I patiently waited 12 months for a new batch of basil to grow and mature and in the meantime, I dreamt about the pesto that I would make with the fresh basil from my garden.  

My long awaited blanched pesto did not disappoint.  This was a such a simple sauce to put together.   5 scrumptious ingredients and a food processor is all it took to create this fresh and flavorful pesto.  

Blanched Pesto
6 cups fresh basil leaves
2 Tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Fill a second bowl with ice water.  Place basil leaves in a metal strainer. 

Place strainer in pan and use tongs to submerge leaves.  Cook 5 seconds. ​ Remove strainer with basil and immediately submerge into ice water. Let stand 10 seconds. 

Spread basil on towel and gently blot dry. 

Place basil, sunflower seeds, oil and salt in food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Add cheese and process until smooth. ​

Cook pasta according to package directions. 

Toss pesto with warm pasta. 

I served my pesto with toasted naan bread and a peach caprese salad.  

I knew that I would love this recipe but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much my family enjoyed this pesto as well.  I would categorize them as traditionalists when it comes to pasta sauce but now that I know they are fans of pesto, we can switch up our usual marinara routine from time to time.  It's always a good sign when they go in for second and even third helping dinner!!  

​Ciao!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe