Alexander and I are going to forge a new movement windowsill to table, the new urban farm to table.

One snowy day last winter, after many snowy days, struggling to find something for us to do, I found a basil seed kit I had bought at Home Depot 3 years earlier and had stuck in a closet. We opened it, poured in the water, watched the peat moss disc quadruple in size and then planted the tiny seeds that are smaller than poppyseeds.

I said a quick prayer not knowing if it was going to work since it was so old. Days later we had our first shoots coming up. Almost a year later we have a giant basil plant living on our windowsill keeping us supplied with fresh basil all the time.

Avec Amour, Victoria and Alexander

Basil Pesto Recipe

Yeild – 2 Cups

2 Cups Basil Leaves, firmly packed 

1/2 Cup Pine Nuts

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

1 Garlic Clove

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Blanch the basil leaves by putting them in boiling water

for 5 seconds

and then immediately putting them into ice cold water

drain. (This is a little trick I learned from my friend from Italy who worked in the restaurant. This helps to keep the basil bright and green.)

2. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread pine nuts on a baking half sheet pan* lined with parchment*or a silpat* and toast in oven for 6 minutes until light golden brown. Cool.

3. Crush garlic

in a garlic press* or back of a knife

and put it in a food processor or blender

along with the basil, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. (I used a Cuisinart Mini Prep.)

4. Pulse 4 times and then drizzle in all the olive oil while the processor is running until pesto forms.

Serve over a half pound of angel hair pasta.

The pesto can be saved for a later date by putting it into a container, covering it with additional olive oil and freezing.

* Half sheet pan or sometimes called a jelly role pan can be found at Amazon.

Amazon Half Sheet Baking Pan

*Parchment paper can usually be found in most grocery stores near the tin foil, but lucky for me I found it at Dollar Tree for $1.00! Mom tip of the day.

Dollar Tree Parchment Paper

*Silpats are available in most gourmet cooking stores, and on Amazon. I went to my local Michaels looking for one and surprisingly they did not carry them though.

Amazon Silpat

*I got my garlic press at Sur la Table.

Sur la Table Garlic Press