Would you believe that I have never made pesto before? It always sounded so "foreign" to me...just the name sounded complicated. Boy was I WRONG!
I had an abundance of basil this year (we love our basil!) and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I do have plans to freeze some for winter use, but I wanted to use up some of the fresh basil too. Enter the idea of pesto. Pulled out some cookbooks just to read what goes into a basic pesto, and came up with my own variation. Simple, basic. Some of the recipes called for pine nuts, but with a nut allergy in the house and a baby who hasn't been exposed to many nuts, I opted to leave those out. And especially since I fed my allergic husband alder smoked salmon and apparently he is allergic to alder...I'm on heightened awareness. Yikes...bad wife. Though in my defense, I didn't know about alder trees, I only knew about birch trees!
Onto the pesto...
1/4 cup parsley
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh & grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
In your handy-dandy food processor, throw in your basil and parsley. Chop away! Crush your garlic and add it to the processor. Add in the cheese. In a measuring cup, measure out your olive oil and lemon juice, stir to mix, and slowly add to the processing basil/parsley/garlic/parmesan, until a nice "paste" forms.
Just like that...easy. it takes longer to wash the food processor than to actually make the pesto!
VERDICT:
Easy and tasty! If I knew then what I know now...we would have been making pesto for ages! So good! And I'm already thinking about what kinds of variations I could try! And what a beautiful, fresh looking green! Not bad for an unedited iPhone picture!
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You have no idea how much I love pesto.
ReplyDeleteI can eat it with everything, and actually as is - with a teaspoon
Looks great! I have a lot of basil, too. My basil, rosemary, and jalapenos seem to be the only things that that thrived in the heat this summer. I only got about 10 tomatoes out of several bushes and 2 cucumbers. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMel S
www.twomomsalittletimeandakeyboard.blogspot.com
Yummy! Love pesto....
ReplyDeleteAnd you make it looks so easy....
And delicious!
Happy Eating!
That is a good picture! I know, pesto is so easy, isn't it? But I never seem to think about making it either. Thanks for sharing at Must Try Monday.
ReplyDeleteHilarious that it was so easy. I literary just posted about how terrible I was at making it recently. Maybe I'll try your recipe.
ReplyDeletehttp://idonthaveacluebutimfindingout.blogspot.com/2012/10/lesson-51-really-gross-lunch.html
I have a bunch of basil I need to use up. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteReally I didn't realise it was that simple - nor that you put cheese in it!
ReplyDeleteShall pin this.
Thanks for sharing.
I just love Pesto, we have lots of Basil in our Herb Garden. This sounds like a great recipe. Have a fabulous weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
ReplyDeleteCome Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Oh my I love homemade pesto! This looks so beautifully green. Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share this week! Have a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteMichelle