Summer is here and it’s pesto season! With the warm weather, the best thing is to grow your own basil. It is also the most economical way to make your own pesto. This Memorable Sauce is a favourite in our household. All the kids LOVE pasta with pesto. I also spread it on chicken and grill it on the barbecue. Everyone in our family absolutely goes wild for it. They chant for pesto when I make it!
The only time I make basil pesto is summer because I grow it in pots in my backyard. If you grow basil, you know how fast and easy it grows under sunlight with plenty of water. Even me, who is known for my black thumb can grow basil 😉 . I’ve never tried this before but a friend of mine grew basil in her condo by placing the basil plants underneath her fluorescent tube lights in her ceiling. She grew them indoors all year long because her rabbits love eating them. Please don’t ask me how she does it 🙂 .
You can also grow basil indoors by bringing your pots inside. However, my basil plants die pretty soon after I do this. I think it’s because I don’t have enough sunlight where I want to put the pots. If you have any success growing them indoors besides the fluorescent lights trick, please share 🙂
Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups Basil, loosely packed
- 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 cup Pine Nuts
- 8 cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Preparation
- In a food processor, place garlic and pine nuts to pulverize for 10 to 15 seconds.
- Then add basil, parmesan cheese, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Restart the food processor again, and slowly add the olive oil in the feed tube until the mixture is pureed. Scrape in between blending if mixture is stuck to the sides.
Notes
Note #1: You could toast your pine nuts lightly if you want to.
Note #2: You can freeze them in ice cube trays to be used later.
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