That’s That Basil Pesto

To the person who first wrote H.A.G.S. in my yearbook a lifetime ago: Thanks a lot. I’ve taken that mandate to heart ever since, dedicating myself year after year to having the greatest summer I can imagine. And with that comes a bit of anxiety: Have I crossed a single activity off my summer bucket list yet? Am I running out of time?

Perhaps many of us feel the pressure to maximize this fleeting season, to embody its spirit of spontaneity and freedom for as long as we can. Lucky for us, there are some easy ways to make the most of your summer in the kitchen, and to continue to reap the benefits into the fall and winter.

You know where this is going: It’s time to make and freeze some peak-season pesto. I like to portion out my fresh purée across an ice cube tray and pop it in the freezer (and then into zip-top bags when frozen), each little block the ideal size for a single serving of pasta cooked hastily on a busy weeknight. A basic basil pesto, like the one Florence Fabricant first published for The New York Times in 1986, is a versatile way to make almost any dish taste like summer.

Basil Pesto

View this recipe.

Double down on your H.A.G.S. intentions now by using your pesto, freshly made, in Vallery Lomas’s quiche-like heirloom tomato tart, which is topped with even more fresh basil, or Alexa Weibel’s roasted tomato tart with ricotta. And then down the road, use your freezer stash to garnish Alexa’s brothy quick white bean and celery ragout or swirl it into Kay Chun’s minestrone with kale and pasta.