A busy Tuesday while Sweet Evalina napped ...

The beets had already been pulled yesterday and cleaned up with roots separated from the greens.

I blanched the greens. Put three 1# bags in the freezer and kept 1# out for supper this week.

I made 9 pints of beet pickles with the roots. I've been using the same recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving for years. You can find it along with photos and commentary in previous blogposts of May 2010 and June 2011.

I used the food processor to zing up the garlic scapes with salt, pepper, and a healthy dose of olive oil.

I froze the resulting pesto in 1 tablespoon blops to be used in the future to season soups, sauces, etc.

While the food processor was warmed up, I trimmed back the basil plants. I made one batch of BASIC basil pesto (basil, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper) which I froze. Then I made one batch of fancy basil pesto ... the obligatory garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil ... along with plenty of walnuts and parmesan cheese. I generously coated a potful of rotelli (spirals) with the paste, adding mozzarella, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts for a deluxe pasta dinner.