In this, our first full summer in the new house, I really wanted to grow some herbs. Unfortunately, I’m not much of a gardener so it probably wouldn’t have happened. Luckily, my mom was growing a few herbs at her house and generously brought me a basil plant earlier this summer! Somehow, I’ve managed to keep it alive for 2 months and in fact, it’s really thrived! I’m sure it’s probably just a low maintenance plant, but it makes me feel better to think my excellent care is the reason it’s thriving.
Anyway, due to how well the plant is doing I have a ton of basil! I decided to take a shot at making some pesto sauce as I figured that would require a fair amount of basil. I can’t recall ever having had pesto before so I only made a small quantity this time in case I didn’t like it (I made only 1/4 of the below recipe). I made the sauce earlier this week and today for lunch I grabbed the pesto from the fridge and mixed it up with some pasta! I really enjoyed it! It was a nice change from either a red sauce or an alfredo and had great flavor. I would up using almonds when I made the sauce as I didn’t have either pine nuts or walnuts and I was a little afraid the sauce would be too nutty but that wasn’t the case. I’ve still got a little sauce in the fridge and I’m looking forward to mixing it up with something else later this weekend!
By Tracey
Pesto Sauce
from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Stir in salt and pepper.
