Betsy Williams will lead a Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop on Saturday, July 30 from 10 – 12:30 on herbal sauces and pastes. Summer is pesto season. It’s time to gather fresh greens from gardens and farmer’s market and turn them into flavorful sauces to freeze for winter enjoyment. A dish of fragrant, pesto-slathered pasta really warms up an icy day.
Pesto alla genovese, the classic sauce of Genoa, and Pistou, the traditional herb paste of Provence, are made with basil. However basil is only one of many flavorful greens that can become the heart of a rich, flavorful pesto or paste. A wide variety of flavorful leafy greens, such as mints, kale, garlic mustard, parsley, spinach, sage, dandelion greens, cilantro and arugula, can be used to make pesto and herb pastes. Pestos and pastes can be with or without cheese, nuts and garlic. We will taste a wide variety of pestos and discuss the ingredients used. After a demonstration of to how to make pestos and pastes, each person will make a pesto or herb paste to take home.
Recipe sheets are included. Tower Hill member price $50, nonmembers $65. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org. Image of pea and arugula pesto from www.floatingkitchen.net.
