At long last I have made pesto ice cubes, such a wonderful idea, and really perfect right about now not only because it is the end of summer, but because with a bunch of Jewish holidays coming up that will involve lots of cooking, it is great to have something tasty on hand to help whip up a quick meal!
The interesting thing about these pesto ice cubes is that they are much lower in fat than most pesto, since I only added a few tablespoons of olive oil, and I used only about half a cup of chopped nuts for a really huge bag of basil. Even better, I used up some chopped almonds that had been hanging out in my freezer for way too long, and while the pesto may not be quite as rich it sure was convenient! (Not to mention that both walnuts and especially pine nuts are more pricey than almonds.)
Ingredients: Rough amounts, taste pesto and adjust accordingly
- about 5 cups loosely packed basil leaves removed from stems and carefully washed
- garlic
- 1/2 chopped almonds
- 3 tblsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Preparation:
First place about a head of peeled garlic in the food processor, then add the basil in bunches, some olive oil and then the almonds. Process until desired consistency is reached and then spoon into ice cube trays. My batch resulted in about 18 ice cubes, though given the amount of basil I would have expected more!
Oh, and just by the way, these photos were taken with my camera on manual, and I have now realized that the best time to take photos in my entry courtyard is right around 11am, as the natural lighting has a nice cast at that time. Honestly, I can’t believe that I spent so many years afraid of using manual, it really isn’t difficult at all, especially for simple photos like this one!
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