Pesto!!!

Here is a very easy, but extremely delicious recipe for garlic pesto. I know its a bit late in the season to make this with your home grown basil, but I wanted to share it anyway.  You can not imagine how wonderful your kitchen will smell when you make this one! Just thinking about the smell is making me a little sad right now because there's a few inches of snow on the ground. One of my favorite things out of my garden are tomatoes, thyme and basil. So its only fitting we love fresh pesto so much. Its great on pasta, or spaghetti squash for the healthier conscious, pasta salads, or just spread over a piece of sprouted grain toast with a sprinkle of cheese. There are a ton of recipes out there to use with your home made pesto.
This is a kind of throw it together recipe, you add ingredients as you go to your own taste. So I don't have exact measurements for you. It's more of a "ballpark" method here, thats how I roll.

Things you will need
2 medium basil plants
olive oil
garlic
5oz shredded parmesan cheese (use the real stuff people, not that powder crap)
Food processor

First thing to do, go cut the basil plants from your garden.  Now its time to pull all the leaves from the plant. If you have plants that have already started to flower, they are still ok to use. We have used them before and haven't noticed any difference in flavor. Once all the leaves are freed from the stalks, you can rinse them if you prefer.

Grab your garlic and peel them. You will use about  half a bulb to start. As you start to process though, add garlic to your own taste. We love garlic, so we use a lot. Coarsely chop the garlic and throw it in the food processor with half the basil leaves.  If you add all the basil leaves at once, its harder to process.  Add a bit of olive oil, maybe 1/4 cup to start. As you process, add more basil leaves and oil until you get a consistency that you like. Pesto should be thick, not runny.

Now that you have achieved the consistency you like, transfer your creation to a mixing bowl. Start adding the parmesan cheese to your taste. Stir it well.  And then…your done.

Just looking at these pictures brings back all the wonderful smells of the summer garden. How I miss it so..