I have always loved having a mini herb garden but since moving to a bigger house I had the opportunity to setup a bigger garden than just pots on my balcony. Since setting it up in October 2011 I have had multiple harvests. We setup the garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, brocolli, capsicums, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, french tarragon, mint, chives, spring onion, bay tree and parsley. Planting in the ground really makes a difference because they have one wild... and I love it. In an attempt to keep the garden happy I try to cut down the herbs as often as I can. The more they are cut the more they grow. Below is just one of a number of harvests and I have begun to dry these herbs as well to make sure I have plenty of stocks in the pantry.
Drying herbs is really easier than I thought it would be. I just tied the herbs together with a piece of string and hung them from a wire coat hanger and put that in my laundry. You just need a cool room thats well ventilated. I rinse the herbs first just in case I have bugs on them and then dry them with a tea towel before hanging.
With so many herbs I decided to make basil pesto. My dad had just come back from Lebanon and had brought with him some home grown pine nuts. They are amazing.
Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
60g fresh basil leaves (usually one big bunch)
2 garlic gloves (optional - i dont use this for my basil pesto)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
7 tablespoon freshly grated good quality parmesan
salt
1. Place basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
2. Make sure well combined, add salt to taste.
Voila!
Hint #1: You can store in an air tight container covering the top with more olive oil.
Hint #2: If you want to freeze it dont season or add the parmesan. Add these after defrosting.
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