Faux Pasta: A Sister Cooking Blog

Ahhhh! How does anybody contain themselves during basil season? How do brides not walk down aisles with bouquets of fragrant heady basil bunches? How does anybody function on a daily diet made up of nothing but pesto and tagliatelle? Pine nuts are so expensive! I use walnuts instead. Speaking of, I’m about to get my food processor out of storage for the sole purpose of making buckets of pesto. Pictures are from last summer when I had a garden. The basil I used is a compact variety meant for growing in containers or windowboxes.

Classic Pesto Recipe
Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd

3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 large, peeled garlic cloves (more if you love it, but I only used 1)

1/2 cup pine nuts or pecan meats (I used walnuts)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

1 teaspoon fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1/2 to 2/3 cup fruity olive oil

salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding enough olive oil to make a thick, smooth sauce.  Pour the pesto out into a bowl with help from a spatula. If you are going to use the pesto sauce immediately, stir in the grated cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Toss with cooked pasta. If you plan on freezing the pesto sauce, don’t incorporate the grated cheese or minced garlic until after it’s defrosted and you plan on serving it.

- Nellie