Early in my rose bush owning years, I was cautious before stripping the bush of blossoms just so that I could have a nice bouquet on my table. Then I learned that the more you cut, the more you get. This lesson does not only apply to rose bushes — my basil has gone mad since I started regularly trimming the ends off. And by mad, I mean that I was able to harvest an obscene amount of basil so that after I made pesto, my neighbors could too.
So, if you have basil in your garden, don’t feel guilty taking 6 cups of leaves so that you can make fresh pesto because it is amazing on some pan-seared Wild For Salmon, wild Alaskan sockeye salmon. Besides, pruning is how you get a plant to give you more.
I took the easy route, once the gardening was done, and opted for walnuts instead of pine nuts because they don’t require toasting beforehand, and they are less than half the price. While I served it on a bed of mashed potatoes, it works equally well on pasta, polenta or rice.
Oh, and the leftover homemade Pesto Sauce? You will never go back to shelf stable store bought jars of pesto again. Use the extra pesto to add a zing to a sandwich, use it as a simple pasta sauce, or drop a heaping spoonful to the next pot of soup you make.
[[ recipeID=recipe-8lskinwgt, title=Pan Seared Pesto Salmon ]]
AUTHOR PROFILE
Nancy Ingersoll is a recipe developer and food photographer in San Diego, California. Always up for adventure, she learned the art of sauces and soufflés from one of James Beard Award winner Roy’s Yamaguchi’s executive chefs, and her curious spirit has been fed with cooking classes domestically and abroad. Nancy is also known as The Creative Resource and you can find her work on nancyingersoll.com and on instagram as @thecreativeresource.
