Pesto Sauce

Shayna was able to get me a whole ton of fresh basil for pesto this week. Here is my recipe:

Basil Leaves (2 or 3 cups packed)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3 large cloves of garlic

kosher salt to taste

Rinse the basil leaves and remove any stems/buds. Put in blender or food processor. Next add olive oil, I usually start with 1/3 cup and then add more (if needed) so that it starts to process/blend. Add in cheese, nuts, garlic, and salt and process until smooth. That's it!

Now, what to do with the pesto sauce?

- toss with pasta: add in some more Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

- make a sandwich: roasted red pepper, spinach, a slice of fresh mozzarella

- drizzle on eggs (for real, it's good)

- make a cream sauce: add pesto to some butter/heavy cream

- make a red sauce: add pesto to red sauce (maybe use to make lasagna)

- baked pasta and vegis: in a casserole dish toss cooked pasta, pesto, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced summer squash, spinach, (any other vegis you have?) and sprinkle mozz. cheese on top, bake till vegis are tender

- add pesto into homemade meatballs

- use as a topping for burgers

- pesto pizza? yes please!

- pesto combined with butter (maybe a topping for corn on the cob)

- pesto in your tuna melt? why not?

- pesto and clam sauce on linguine

- a spoonful of pesto stirred into homemade (ore store bought) hummus, dip fresh vegis in :)

- pesto cornbread: add three tablespoons into the batter and bake as normal

- pesto as a topping for a baked potato

- rub into chicken before baking

ALSO, pesto freezes great! At the end of last summer I made a whole ton and froze it in an ice cube tray. Once frozen I popped out the little cubes of pesto and stored in a freezer zip lock bag. We had fresh pesto all winter (actually, I think it only lasted till February, this summer I'll freeze more!)