Garden Pestos

Clearly the basil is really small, so what to do when that pesto craving comes your way?

Any number of possibilities:

First (and probably my least favorite), is fava bean shoot pesto. Think pea shoot pesto and just use the tender tips of the fava bean plants, instead. For me, it was just a little too healthy tasting. Or bean-ish. Or simply too unlike pestos made from herbs. Though I did serve it on top of goat cheese crostini and that worked just fine.

Farther along that same plant is fava bean pesto - essentially a mash of favas, some mint or basil and the usual cheese, oil and garlic suspects. A better option for my taste buds.

And then there is sage pesto. Not only does sage overwinter well here (usually) but it also blooms early in the spring. I paired the sage leaves with sunflower seeds rather than almonds or walnuts which gave it an extra-earthy flavor, with parsley to round it all out. It was a hit.

Or you could move on to tarragon pesto. Since winters are so mild here, true tarragon doesn't fare well. Instead, I grow Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida). It also overwinters here, sending up new greenery once it warms up a bit. The flavor is perhaps more pronounced than regular tarragon, but I'm not that fussy. It's still pesto, right, and very tasty over pasta.

Lastly, I suppose I could just walk up the street to Trader Joe's. I'm sure they have something...