Basic Basil Pesto
If anyone enjoyed this rainy Spring, it was my herb garden. I have basil to spare. I recently told the folks on my Instagram and Facebooks walls that the abundance was stumping me and I could use some new recipes featuring basil. Wow. I’m still trying to gather all of the amazing suggestions. I hope to compile it soon and I’ll share when I do. For now, I’ll walk you through my basic basil pesto here. You’ll find a version of this recipe all over the web with only slight variations so I can’t really claim it as my own. The beloved farmer and I had it with pasta at lunch today. It was both simple and yummy!
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cups fresh basil, wash and remove stems
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic (maybe even a bit more, we like our garlic!)
1/2 to 2/3 cup extra- virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I typically like to grate my own Parmesan, but today I used a tri-blend I had of grated Romano, Parmesan, and Asiago cheese and it was still delicious)
salt and pepper to taste
Begin by browning your pine nuts for a couple minutes in a stove top skillet, stirring and turning for about three minutes or until they’re turning brown and releasing aroma. Add toasted nuts, basil, and garlic to food processor. Pulse until well blended. Slowly add olive oil until the consistency is to your taste. Salt and pepper, stir well. You can add the cheese as you’re processing the pesto, or top your dish with it. Or both! LOL! No rocket science here. Just figure out what works best for you.
To serve with pasta, simply prepare your favorite. Today I used vermicelli. I like to reserve a bit of the pasta water (a 1/4 cup or so) before draining. Blend your pesto into this water before stirring it all into your pasta. This helps to coat all the individual noodles. How much pesto should you use? That’s a taste preference. For 16 ounces of pesto, I might use 1/4 cup or more of pesto! I know I ended up adding more pesto after this pic was taken, because it felt like a more is more moment. Oh, and you may want to top with more cheese (if you’re a Tomlinson.) Enjoy!
