Buying pesto is usually pretty good, but imagine making your own!!! From your own homegrown basil!! Wow and yum!
It is perfectly fine to play around with the ingredients and add other flavours too your pesto, but this is a basic recipe that we often make and love to add to pasta dishes.
Ingredients:
45g (2 cups) basil leaves
1-2 garlic cloves
45g (1/3 cup) pine nuts
100g (1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon lemon juice, maybe you need more
Salt and pepper
Approx. 120ml (1/2 cup) oil
Directions:
On a dry pan, toast the pine nuts till just starting to get a bit golden. Cool them down a bit.
Grate the parmesan cheese on the fine grater.
In a foodprocessor blend the garlic cloves with a bit of the oil. Once smooth, add the washed and rinsed basil leaves and toasted pine nuts. Blend again till fairly smooth, taste and add cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice and more oil as needed. Keep blending and tasting till you have that perfect-for-you flavour.
Serve it on top of pasta or spread it on toasted baguette slices.
Try substituting basil for cilantro, parsley or a mix of different herbs. You can also try adding sundried tomatoes to make tomato pesto. Be creative!!
-Enjoy!