Pesto Change-o!

I hadn't even realized, but the previous post was my 100th. Does that qualify me as "prolific"? If I had known I was reaching such a milestone, I probably would have drawn a crazy monkey picture to celebrate, because that's really my bread-and-butter. I should get my dad to guest-blog to explain the gorilla-comics phenomenon in more detail, but for now suffice it to say I'm like DC Comics: I find my product makes a bigger splash when it's got a monkey attached.

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Hello again; are you done learning about the "Gorilla Age of Comics" and enjoying each and every brilliant Perry Bible Fellowship comic? No? Take your time, I'll just be here drawing monkey-fueled disasters (I bet they're behind that situation in Japan).

Okay, enough of that. Assemble!

As suggested by the punny title, I came here to talk about pesto. The green stuff, made from basil, is great; the red stuff, with sun-dried tomatoes added to the mix and sometimes called "pesto rosso," is even better. I'm pretty new to the pesto scene. I've never made it myself since, in the mere couple of years I've really been aware of pesto, I've never had a food processor nor a surplus of fresh basil (I'm still waiting for the invitation to Casa de Drew Lafiandra to try their homemade pesto).

So, not surprisingly, I've still got a lot to learn about the delicious, herby stuff. It has come to my attention that pesto can be more than just "basil, with or without sun-dried tomatoes" An article at rodale.com has the scoop:

"At its most traditional, Italian pesto is made from fresh basil leaves, olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and raw pine nuts, all of which are ground to a smooth paste in a mortar and pestle (in fact, the word "pesto" comes from the verb 'pestare,' which means 'to crush,' as with a pestle). But with modern preparation methods (food processor!) and a little creativity, you can make pesto from just about any herb or green veggie (alone or in combinations), along with oil, some sort of nut (raw or roasted), some sort of cheese, and garlic or some other seasoning."

So many pestos (pestoes?). One of the best reasons for making it is so extra herbs/greens you have don't go bad on you, which can happen quickly. Pesto keeps well, especially with all that delicious, preserving oil, and the article suggests you "freeze it in an ice cube tray and pop the frozen cubes into an airtight container. Drop a cube or two into soup for a flavor lift, or thaw and toss with hot pasta for a quick meal."

I don't use ice cubes unless I'm drinking whiskey -- even then I only need two rocks -- so chalk this up as a second reason for me to have an ice cube tray in the freezer (in my theoretical future-freezer). I just need to make sure I don't confuse the ice cubes. I'll try a lot of things, but pesto-whiskey isn't on the list...yet.

Anybody ever tried other kinds of pesto, either bought or homemade?