What do you do when life hands you too much basil at one time? Make pesto.
I don’t know about you but I L-O-V-E pesto! I use it on my spaghetti noodles, I slather it on my French bread before baking, I use it instead of tomato sauce when I make pizza, I use it to season my spaghetti sauces, I can find a use for it in any Italian dish! It’s my one stop Italian food favorite, next to olive oil and fresh garlic, of course.
So when I saw how easy it was to make your own pesto, I was all over it, especially with all these basil leaves I had!
Although the traditional recipe of pesto is made with pine nuts, you can use any variety of nuts you choose for making it. And since I didn’t have pine nuts on hand at the time I made my pesto, I used almonds. To me the almonds didn’t change the flavoring of the pesto, as the basil and garlic are the quintessence of this recipe.
The result was delicious! A beautifully green pesto sauce with a rich flavoring of basil and garlic, magnifico!
A little fact about basil, throughout Italy its meaning is Love. So next time you’re making an Italian dish for your loved one, throw in a little extra basil {wink}.
BASIL PESTO
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon parmesan cheese, freshly grated
½ cup raw almonds
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
Directions
After you have washed, rinsed, patted dry, and destemmed (cut the stems off) your basil leaves, set them aside.
Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree. You can puree to your own liking of either coarse (the ground almonds) or finely ground (almonds).
Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate up to 1 week or you can freeze in a freezer safe container for later use.
Inspired by ~ Lou Lou Girls Pesto Pasta
*Helpful Hints*
- All measurements are US
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Shared with: Savoring Saturdays
