But you could claim “Pure Tasmanian Wild Harvested Organic Fennel” as a key ingredient in your pesto.
When we first visited Tassie in 1993 and saw it growing on the road sides, we thought it was asparagus, but we later found out that it was fennel.
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I watched this YT video - thought it made a lot of sense, especially for short growing seasons. The downside, for me anyway, was the outlay required for the equipment (as an empty nester, I don’t have the food demands of yore!).
But - the concept & execution is pretty simple.
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At one stage we had an aquaponics grow bed chock full of lemon balm, so my wife used it instead of basil to make a delicious pesto.
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Learned mine from an Italian Grand mother, not mine unfortunately, and we use pine nuts. Macadamia would be delicious too.
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Our herb garden after I evicted my wife’s plant cuttings and re-took possession.
It is Birdies unit from Bunnings. The Italian parsley is going ballistic and the sweet basil, chillis, sage, mint and marjoram are doing well.
The tyme which I planted seeds for are starting to progress but the Thai basil which was also from seeds are struggling.
I have cut the parsely back previously but need to do it again.
Parsely pesto anyone?
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Best placed in a pot or container.
Assume there was agreement on what type?
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They were after they were evicted.
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Our taste test results of 13 supermarket Basil pestos are in, take a look here:
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It is a shame that they have to make them salty…the best being 355mg sodium/100g and worst 1400mg/100g.
When making it at home, there is no need to add salt. I suspect the salt/sodium is used to preserve the store bought pestos and also to retain the pesto colour when stored.
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I wonder if a lot of the salt content comes via the cheese…
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Looking at the products and the ingredient list, while some contain cheese which would contribute some, the ones with the higher sodium contents contain significant amounts of salt. If their ingredient lists are in order of amount present in the product, it appears that they are about 1.5% to possibly >2% salt. This is a significant amount added to the product.
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You can make pesto with carrot tops and with radish leaves or with parsley which is available 365 and cashews…
Looking at choice review of Pesto’s that are available and the markets and I don’t want to be consuming:
Tofu 5% (Water, Soybeans), Organic Rice Syrup Powder, Potato Flakes (Potatoes, Emulsifier (471), Emulsifier (450I), Preservative (223), Antioxidant (304), Acidity Regulator (330)), Acidity Regulator (270),
Now I don’t bring a magnifying lenz to the shops. I cannot eat tofu, so it will make me sick. I don’t want rice syrup nor all the preservatives added to something that takes no time to make and is just few ingredient.
- pine nuts.
- cups fresh basil leaves
- small garlic cloves, halved
- shredded Parmesan
- tablespoons olive oil
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Not all carrot leaves/tops are equal. Some varieties are tender and palatable…others are tough and bitter. Fresh from the garden is superior to bought ones which tend to be dry and woody. If one grows their own best to experiment with different varieties to get one which produces tender, palatable leaves.
When we lived in China, carrot leaves also formed the basis for dumpling and steam bun fillings…quite delicious.
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Not suggesting making them from supermarket carrots, but from farmers markets.
As well as carrot tops from heirloom carrots.
I’ve cooked them with a bit of oil and garlic and added some lime juice.
