How to Make Fresh Basil Pesto | Picking Basil so it Keeps Growing 

I totally enjoyed your video. I have had a basil plant for the last 4 years, would trim it and give it away. I have never made pesto because every recipe I found always had pine nuts as an ingredient and since those are quite expensive, I would go to the store and buy a small container. After following your recipe including the walnuts, I will never buy it again. Your recipe tasted better than I’ve ever had! By the way you explained everything real well. Your recipe is a keeper!! Blessings!

Every basil is different.. ive been pickin leaves randomly out of it for 10 years. Still alive and keeps growing

TIP* Use a salad spinner. You can use it to get all of the excess water from your basil, salad greens and grated potatoes for hashed browns. Works like a champ!

This is a fabulous tutorial! I’m new to gardening and I still need a bit of courage harvesting things from the garden. Loved how you showed the entire process, from cutting the basil to the recipe and even tips for how to store in the freezer. Going to try this today!

Thank you for teaching me how to harvest basil. 😊

I feel that it’s better to make the base of the pesto and then input the basil leaves . This would ensure a nice green pesto and you wouldn’t work up the basil leaves a lot. Love your video, and i am certainly jealous of your basil pot. Great vid 😊.

Thanks for taking the time to show us the whole process! So very helpful! :-)

It will be our first season gardening as a young couple and I am so excited to follow this tutorial! Thank you!

My pesto is DELICIOUS!!! All thanks to you. Yeah blending it in a blender is a mess. It's hard to get all out from around the blades. I used an "olive oil wash" to collect the excess around the blades. The wash includes olive oil and lemon juice. I plan to use that in my salads. Please don't remove your video. Its great for beginners like me. 😃

That is the quietest food processor I have ever heard! Thank you for this! I didn't know about how to trim the plants, only pinching off the seeds. I did have a happy accident with my basil seeding and they went into the next planter area and now I have 4 beautiful plants! Yayyyy! Going to make this now but make it a cream pesto with pecans (that is what I have) and serve it with chicken and rice. :D

Thank you for the tip of not picking off leaves which will eventually kill the plant. Haven't heard that before but makes sense!

Great tips! Thank you!

Great Video! I didnt know how to properly pick basil! Thank you!

Thank you!

Good advice. A lot of videos suggest pulling the leaves off as you need them.

Thank you for excellent lesson. 🪴

I'm jealous of your plants, wow.

💜🌱 looks delicious!

Thank you good video

great basil advice.

Wow wow!!! Blessings

Good tip for putting oil on top to coating the pesto.

Ok just found you and subbed , i`m a few seconds in and i can tell that i`m gonna dig ur channel! I love pesto on my pan seered pork chops! noy sure i spelled that right! yummy mmmmm yummy!

Wow that is a big Basil plant. Last year we had the same thing. This year our basil is small. Oh yummy Janette.

How long will a mason jar of it last in the fridge? then freezer (approximately)?

Looks delicious. Liked for the return of the neck scissors.

My wife had a lemon basil plant on the back porch that got full sun for half the day. She made the best pesto, much more tasty than store bought jars. I wish I knew what kind of nuts she used.

Never made pesto J but you've got me making a batch in the morning! Love the blooper! 😂 How's old man doing? Glad to see a new video from you. 👍🌱😁

Looks delicious! Is the color dark because of the walnut?

How do you use this? The bloopers was great😂. 😁❤️ Cheryl

Why don't you want to put any stems in the pesto (when you separated leaves from stem after washing)?

Are you reading my mind smile 😊I have a 40 foot row of basil but will be selling some and gifting some .. I do mine under Dow cover cause Japanese Bettie love it .. Your pesto looks so yummy 😋 ✌️☮️👍❤️

My gosh at the size of that plant!! You obviously don’t live in Texas!

Why so dark?

È una salsa al basilico , il pesto alla genovese è un'altra cosa.

Its no good color🤔 Why no blanshired(basil 15 sec.in 100'C water and next in cold water and dry..)

What this

To keep fresh basil looking *green & vibrant*, BLANCH it for 10 seconds in boiling water, just until wilted. Remove the basil immediately and plunge into ice water. This keeps the basil from turning black and unappealing. Then freeze it. Or you can also keep it refrigerated for 2-3 weeks. Some say up to 4 weeks or more. You can, but I prefer to eat it within 2 weeks or vacuum freeze it for longer storage 5-6 months. Blanched almonds, lightly toasted, ground up fine, will also produce a lighter pesto and sweeter flavor profile. I’ve seen people drain the excess water by tightly squeezing the pesto. Unnecessary to sacrifice flavor and nutrients this way. A salad spinner will remove excess water from the blanching process. Reserve the blanching water for cooking pasta to serve with freshly made gorgeous pesto.