Kitchen Garden Pesto

People ask me all time about starting a garden. I can’t blame them because growing your own food is not only good for the soul, it’s good for her health too. Lots of people think they can’t do it but I know for sure that with a few simple tips, resources, patience and love, anyone can be successful. I always recommend starting with a kitchen garden. More specifically a culinary herb garden which is a staple area in any kitchen garden. You can grow an herb garden in beds, pots and even indoor on a window sill. There will be more talk about kitchen gardens in the future like making refrigerator dill pickles from your home grown cucumbers, but today I want to share with you my kitchen garden pesto. It’s basically an herb pesto that can be made from just about any herb you’re growing in your garden. 

For most people a pesto is made with basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and a few other ingredients. This is indeed a basic pesto but a little know secret is that you can make pesto from an array of herbs, different types of cheese, different nuts and even oils other than EVOO. So if basil isn’t your jam, try making a pesto from whatever your favorite herb growing in your garden is. Today’s recipe features a bunch of herbs straight out of my garden. Basil, oregano, marjoram and rosemary. I’m kicking myself for not harvesting some of the thyme because thyme is one of my top 3 culinary herb garden must haves.

And friends, I am not a fan of pine nuts. Don’t clutch you pearls, if pine nuts are your jam then by all means use them. I find them overrated and definitely overpriced for the taste. LOL. Today I used pistachios in my recipe. I also like pesto with sunflower seeds or walnuts. Trust if the dog didn’t dig up my sunflower patch, this recipe would have had some.

Here’s a video showing how easy it is to put this herb pesto together. I’ve written the recipe below based on some adjustments I made while making the video including adding more garlic which I was out of. Feel free to modify the recipe to your preferred taste, herbs, nuts and more. The general measurements will be the same. 

And now best darn kitchen garden pesto ever.