A few years ago I was just starting to garden, because I wanted to have my own organic ingredients to make recipes like this lemon balm pesto. I found a nice piece of land in our new backyard and started clearing the area I wanted to use. I can say that it was a lot of hard work. Justin, myself and the lids worked at that piece of land and when it was finally ready, off I went to the garden center.
We planted all kinds of wonderful things that year. We put up trellises, supports then we carefully marked all the plants with beautiful markers and waited… and waited…. and waited. All we got that year were deformed, disfigured plants with some of the strangest looking vegetables (I say that lightly and with definite sarcasm).
As it turns out, the spot I picked was where the previous owners had placed their swingset, we were told that years of weedkiller had been deposited in that exact spot. THat explains the disfigured alien type plants that grew that year. Needless to say, we moved our garden far away from that spot. I am very happy to report that we have been successfully growing a vegetable garden every year since.
It was that first year I had gone off to the garden center to buy plants and I had purchased one plant called lemon balm. As I was getting ready to put it in my new garden a friend suggested, very strongly that I not put it in my garden but find a container or something for it. Well, naturally I did not listen. I planted that lemon balm under a tree in our front yard. My husband told me it would never grow because I planted it under a pine tree and that they were too acidic for plants to grow under them – hahaha. We have a giant bush of lemon balm that has grown just a little bigger every year, and oh my word does it smell divine. Every year I think to myself, “What on earth should I do with all this?” and every year I do nothing. This year I decided to not let it go to waste and researched different ways to use it. One way is to make pesto, I was apprehensive about lemon balm pesto but I thought I would give it a try, it is absolutely fabulous. The pesto has a subtle lemon flavor that is quite mellow and a wonderful aftertaste. Perfect for pasta, chicken, fish or just plain on crackers.
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| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
cups
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- 4 cups lemon balm washed well and packed loosely into a measuring cup
- 4-5 cloves garlic fresh, peeled
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 3/4 cup cashews no salt added
- 3/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)
Ingredients
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- Using a food processor, finely chop the garlic
- Add lemon balm a little at a time making sure that it is finely chopped
- Add the cashews to the lemon balm and garlic and process until well incorporated
- Add the cheese and blend until it has the consistency of paste
- Add olive oil slowly, blending well
- Spoon pesto into storage containers and drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil on the top
Pesto can also be frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in a freezer safe container or bag. I store mine in small canning jars and then refrigerate for up to a week. I add the salt and pepper to taste depending on what I am using the pesto for. A little goes a very long way.
This Lemon Balm Pesto recipe is Gluten Free and Vegetarian.
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