Homemade Basil Pesto

My basil plant is going a little crazy, partially because I have slightly neglected it over the last few weeks, um ok month or uh two. Anyway it was getting a little dead along the bottom with lots of leaves on the top. The only way I could think of getting it back on track is to chop off the long half dead stems and let the new undergrowth take over. With that much basil I wasn’t for sure what I was going to make and pesto always seems like the best way to get rid of large quantities of basil.

I rinsed and patted dry the basil with a paper towel.

Making your own basil pesto is pretty easy and the nice part is you can tailor it to your taste, if you like garlic you can add more garlic, more pine nuts, more basil, etc. There are also a variety of other flavors you can use instead of the basil: parsley, spinach, etc. I went online to see if there were any good recipes and they all seem the same and included garlic, pine nuts, basil, Parmesan and olive oil. I didn’t measure anything out just kind of added until it looked right and I think that is the best way to make it to your own taste.

Perfectly layered, the bottom is the pine nut and garlic mixture, then add basil then the Parmesan.

I started with garlic and pine nuts in my mini food processor and pulsed together until it was in a mealy paste consistency. Then I added the basil and Parmesan and pulsed together, then added the olive oil until you get a consistency that you want.

A beautiful green substance. I stored in in a cute little mason jar which I didn't get a picture of, but it will store nicely in the fridge for some time.

There are oodles and oodles of things that you can do with basil pesto…one of which I will post tomorrow night, but you can add it to French bread, use it in a pasta sauce, smother chicken breasts in it before baking, etc.