One
of my absolute favorite things in the world is pesto. I love pesto on pasta,
chicken, salmon, shrimp and rice.
Let’s
face it, pesto is not a cheap item. Tiny jars of pesto in the grocery store run
$5 to $7 each. The require Sweet Basil, Olive Oil, Pine Nuts, Salt and Lemon
Juice.
Last
summer I decided to make my own pesto. Even making it was not cheap. It was certainly
less expensive than buying in in the grocery store, but still not an
inexpensive item.
Pesto
is a fairly high calorie item because of the olive oil. ( There are about 120
calories in one tablespoon of olive oil) The Basil has almost no calories. The
Pine nuts do have calories, but I am not sure how much would be in one
tablespoon.
Pesto
can go a long way. Just one tablespoon per plate is usually enough. So I
estimate that it is 130-150 calories per tbs of Pesto.
This
year, I decided to make and can my own pesto. It all starts with one basic
ingredient – the sweet basil leaves.
I
planted the basil seeds early this spring. At first they did not grow well
because they were not getting enough sunlight. I moved them to the front, where
they could get more light and water. The little plants started to poke through
the soil. But that was not fast enough for me. Summer us here, and I need some
real basil plants for my pesto. So I cheated, went to Lowes and bought a couple
basil plants.
I
took one plant, separated it, and put it into three separate pots. They are
growing beautifully.
The basil that I planted from seed are still also growing
slowly, and nicely. Hopefully by the end of summer or early fall they can be
harvested.
When
I make my pesto, you can guarantee that I will be selling it.
Stay
Tuned!
